


Take My Breath Away

by Samtoinette



Series: Take My... [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Universe, Childhood Friends, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Jealous Nanase Haruka, M/M, Male Friendship, One-Sided Attraction, One-sided Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto, Protective Yamazaki Sousuke, Rival Relationship, Rivalry, Swim Club, Swim Team, Swimming, Swimming Pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 02:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13044813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samtoinette/pseuds/Samtoinette
Summary: Haru's thoughts are given a voice, by more than just Makoto.





	1. Chapter 1

Makoto was always with him. It was rather annoying, but Haru didn't care enough to say anything. His friend could tag along like a puppy following it's master. What did it matter? What did anything matter?

He was stoic when he was a child, but now he didn't feel like doing much of anything. What did people call this? Depression? No, he couldn't be depressed. He didn't feel anything for anyone or any activity except swimming.

  
He sunk into the bath and only emerged when Makoto opened the door to his bathroom. It grated on Haru's nerves that Makoto stuck around. It bugged him that Makoto still used 'chan' again. For the millionth time, Haru reminded him not to do that.

"You wore your swimsuit in the bath again?" Makoto asked in a disapproving tone. It wasn't like Haru didn't know why Makoto always said that. Mako made it obvious how he felt about him. Why else would he stick so close to someone who barely spoke or paid attention to anything he said.

  
On their way to school, Haru wondered briefly why Makoto even bothered. Because he missed the Opening Ceremony? Who cares? He tuned out whatever Mako was saying about their teacher. All he wanted to do was swim.

"I hope it gets warmer soon so we can go swimming." Mako spoke aloud. Haru turned his head away in annoyance. Why did Makoto always speak what was on Haru's mind? He also always smiled when Haru showed his irritation. He was too happy. It was unnatural.

  
After their class was over, it was the same old routine. Makoto asked him if he wanted to eat on the roof, Haru thinking he was an idiot for thinking he wanted to spend time with him at all, but he always wound up going along with it. It was easier than arguing or dealing with Makoto's sad dog eyes when his master says 'no'.

He hadn't brought his lunch, though. He'd had no intention of going to school. Why bother? Makoto was rambling on about how he could get food when he was interrupted.

Nagisa stood there, apparently after just transferring. It'd been a while so everyone went to the roof to catch up.

  
The cherry blossoms that looked over the pool almost made Haru sigh. Nagisa pointed it out, Makoto mentioned it was never in use and that there was no swimming club either.

"Where do you swim, then?" Nagisa asked innocently. He wouldn't have known.

"I quit swimming competitively." Haru stated matter-of-fact.

"What?!" Nagisa exclaimed. "Why'd you quit?! I was excited to swim with you in high school!"

"We're not kids anymore." Was Haru's response. "Things aren't the same." He continued. He didn't want to go into why. A grinning redhead's face popped into his head and he had to consciously stop himself from swallowing the lump in his throat. His chest hurt when he thought of Rin. He still didn't understand why.

Nagisa had some stupid suggestion about making a hot springs club. "I can't stand the heat" was Haru's response to that. He tuned out the rest of the conversation.

  
As they were heading back inside, Nagisa talked about how their old swimming club was going to be torn down soon. A sharp pang hit Haru's chest.

"How about we go see it beforehand?" Nagisa asked.

"To dig that up?" Makoto responded.

"Yep! We can sneak in at night--" Nagisa responded.

"You two go alone." Haru stated flatly.

"No, come with us Haru-chan!" Nagisa protested.

"No." Haru said, turning away.

"Won't it be fun, though?" Nagisa insisted, grabbing onto Haru's sleeve. He'd always been a touchy-feely, affectionate person.

"It won't." Haru responded.

"Why not humor him?" Makoto said.

"It's too much effort." Haru responded.

"But there's a pool..." Makoto started, "A bathtub can't compare to a pool."

As much as he hated to admit it, he really wanted to swim in a pool. Makoto gave him a knowing grin. Oh, how Haru wanted to smack that grin off his face.

Later at Haru's house, they continued their conversation.

"Is this really okay?" Makoto asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Nagisa questioned.

"Is it okay for just the three of us to dig it up?" Makoto responded.

"It can't be helped." Nagisa said. "Rin-chan isn't here anymore."

Yeah, Rin wasn't here. That was something that Haru was painfully aware of for these five long years. Yet they were going to their old club where they'd met Rin. It didn't really sit right with Haru, but he'd go anyway.

  
When they arrived, Nagisa spooked Makoto with a ghost story before they went inside. Makoto never had gotten over his fear of the dark. It was a little childish, but he seemed to be doing fine despite that.

As they walked, Nagisa apologized for bringing purifying 'sugar' instead of purifying 'salt' to help them ward off ghosts. Things had been going fine until Nagisa kicked a can and Makoto freaked out, hiding behind Haru. Seriously, he always did this. Was Haru his mother?

They continued their trek inside. Nagisa ran into what was once the lounge and ran over to the picture of all of them and Rin right after they won the relay. They'd buried the trophy in a time capsule, which was the whole reason they were there in the first place. It had been Rin's idea. "We'll put it in a time capsule and dig it up when we're older." Rin had said. He looked at Haru with that wide grin and continued, "Like in a storybook!" Haru had to look away then, he felt his face heating up.

Nagisa pointed out the picture to Haru and Mako. Haru couldn't help but stare at the face of his friend who'd been gone for five years. He hadn't thought of Rin this much in a long time. Why did Nagisa have to show up?

His friends were starting to go off without him, so Haru quickly grabbed the photo from when they won their relay. The place was going to be torn down, and that memory was too precious to Haru to disappear among the rubble.

As they continued down the hallway, Makoto gripped onto Haru's jacket and looked at the person walking toward them. Haru recognized him instantly. Rin. Haru gasped quietly. His heartbeat sped up, and his palms began to sweat.

"I didn't expect to see you guys here." Rin said.

"Rin-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed and grabbed his arm, "You're back from Australia!"

"But what are you doing here?" Makoto asked.

"This must be fate!" Nagisa said. "An invisible force brought us together at this exact--"

"Haru." Rin cut Nagisa off. "You still hang out with these guys? You never learn."

"What do you mean?" Mako asked.

No, this wasn't Rin. This wasn't his friend who left five years ago. He may look like him, but they were two very different people. This Rin had no life in his eyes, he didn't smile at them once, and here he was insulting their old friends.

"What about you?" Haru asked Rin. "Have you learned anything?" He was angry. He didn't normally get angry, but who did this guy think he was?

"Haru?" Mako was surprised. It had been five years since Haruka Nanase had shown any emotion at all. It was worse that the first one was anger.

"I'm glad you asked." Rin responded, "How about I show you? Let's race." At that he began walking toward the old pool.

"Race?" Mako was bewildered and then as Haru followed Rin without a word, Makoto exclaimed "Wait, Haru?!"

"Did they ditch us?" Nagisa asked.

"Seems so." Mako answered.

They both ran after their two friends with Nagisa calling out "Wait!"

  
In the pool area, it didn't take them long to start getting ready.

"I'll show you how different we are now." Rin was saying as he flew off his shirt.

"Sure." Haru responded simply as he threw his own shirt off. "Go ahead."

Nagisa and Makoto were freaking out by the sidelines. Mako tried to stop Haru from stripping his pants off, then exclaimed something about him still wearing his swimsuit from that morning. Nagisa observed Rin had too.

Haru and Rin stared each other down as they made their way to the edge of the pool. If he'd had more time, Haru's eyes may have looked a bit more closely. Wait, what? Why?

"Let's do this, Haru!" Rin exclaimed as he pulled on his goggles. They were running to the edge now. "Ready, go--"

Nagisa shone the flashlight on the pool. "It's empty."

"That's why I told you to stop." Makoto said. He did? Haru didn't hear him.

Rin ripped the goggles off his head. "Tch, lame." He walked away to get dressed. "Oh, did you guys come here for this?" He asked, holding up their middle school relay trophy. "I don't need it anymore." He let it fall to the ground and walked away.

Haru watched him go. He really wasn't the same Rin. No smiling. No laughing. No friendly banter. Haru was glad no one was paying attention to him. He felt like if someone touched him, he'd break down.

"He's so different." Nagisa observed.

Haru grabbed the trophy on the way out. His heart was heavy the rest of the night.

  
Haru skipped school the next day. He just stayed in the bathtub. He had no reason to go anywhere.

After school, his home was invaded by his friends. They wanted to go to Rin's new school.

"Don't you want to see Rin?" Makoto was asking.

"We saw him yesterday." Haru responded simply. Makoto sighed.

"Here I was thinking you'd actually get to swim this time." Makoto said. "Samezuka supposedly has an indoor pool." Damn him. He always knew how to get to Haru. Swimming. In an indoor pool. He couldn't pass up that chance.

  
They couldn't get into the pool area when they first arrived, so Haru had to wait. As soon as they entered, however, he was stripped and in the water in ten seconds flat. Despite Makoto's protests, he wasn't fast enough to stop his waterlogged friend.

Nagisa decided to join in. Without a swimsuit, though, he was skinnydipping. He didn't let Makoto stay dry either. He was pulled in by his foot and Nagisa laughed and splashed Mako, which then started a splashing war between the two of them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rin's voice cut through the rowdiness.

"We came here to see you." Nagisa said innocently and waved. It was odd how he could be so innocent while standing there buck naked.

"Get out." Rin said angrily. Haru emerged from the water just a few feet away from his old friend.

"Free." Haru said quietly. After Rin responded 'Huh?' Haru continued, "Did you forget? I only swim freestyle." He got out of the water, shaking his hair, and faced Rin.

"Show me that sight again." Haru said. "I forgot what it looks like."

"Sure, I'll do that." Rin responded. "But it won't be the same. This'll be completely different."

Shortly after, they both stood at the edge of the pool ready to race.

"After all this time, I still can't figure you out." Rin said.

"Whatever." Haru responded simply. "Get ready, Rin." It was rare he'd use people's names when addressing them.

"As impassive as ever." Rin said. "You really piss me off."

Makoto gave them the signal to begin their race. It was fairly short, and Haru was beaten by Rin.

"Yes!" Rin exclaimed and splashed the water in excitement.

"You win." Haru stated and turned toward his rival. "Good for you, Rin."

"'Good for you?'" Rin repeated in annoyance. He grabbed Haru's goggles from around his neck and pulled him close. Haru wondered why Rin was angry. He'd won. Wasn't that what he wanted?

They were quickly run off by a teacher, which was good for Haru. He felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest being that close to Rin. Something was definitely wrong with him.

  
Haru wondered why he bothered to go to school the next day. He was getting chewed out by a teacher, along with Nagisa and Makoto. Oh well, once the lecture was over, he quickly made his way home and got in the bath.

That afternoon, Nagisa and Makoto proposed the idea of making their own swim club. He couldn't pass that up. They'd also brought Rin's sister with them. Haru was out of the bath and making dinner shortly after their club proposal.

"So is this the first time Rin's come back to Japan since he left?" Makoto asked Rin's sister, Kou.

"Huh? He came back every year for New Year's." Kou responded.

"Really?!" Nagisa exclaimed, "And he never got in touch with us? That's mean of him."

A sharp pain hit Haru's chest. Rin had come back every year. Every year for five years. None of them knew. It especially hurt that he'd never contacted Haru. Was all their time together really that meaningless? Haru was a mess when Rin left, and he'd never really gotten back to normal. Nothing mattered to him without Rin around. He couldn't stop the flinching that overcame his body. He swallowed the lump in his throat and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. The mackerel might be a little extra salty.

  
The swimming club was approved, but they had so much work to do to get the pool up and running. It was a mess, with cracked concrete and weeds growing out of every opening available. It was a lot of work and took them weeks to finish. Haru even skipped lunch most days so he could work on it. While he did want to swim as soon as possible, he really wanted to race Rin. That was a better motivation for him than swimming. When had that happened? When had Rin become more important than swimming?

Haru didn't remember who's stupid idea it was to carve their mascot, Iwatobi-chan, out of wood to entice new members, but he was stuck carving them anyway. Even after fixing the pool, they still needed a fourth member to keep their club going. Since Nagisa was the peppiest, he took it upon himself to ask people. As it turned out, he wasn't not that great at it.

It was pure luck that Kou decided to join their club as their manager while they were putting the finishing touches on the pool area. It was the first time in a long time that Haru actually smiled. At least their club wouldn't die out after doing so much work.

  
The next week, they celebrated the reopening of the school's pool. Their advisor said they filled the pool early, and they threw in chlorine tablets. Haru couldn't resist. Even though it was only April, he was stripped and in the pool with everyone except Nagisa yelling at him to get out. They just needed to shove it. He was free.


	2. Chapter 2

The day after opening the pool, Haru was sneezing. Makoto and Nagisa were spending time with him. Aloud, Haru said his grandma had said that meant someone was talking about him. Who was talking about him?

"Then Rin-chan must be talking about you!" Nagisa exclaimed. That caught Haru's attention. Why would Rin be talking about him? Maybe he missed him or something?

"I'm pretty sure he's just sick." Makoto interjected. "Because he got in the pool even though it's only April." Would it be that terrible if Rin was talking about Haru?

"I wouldn't get sick from swi---" Haru couldn't finish his sentence, as he sneezed. How weak did Makoto think he was?

"It's too early to swim outside." Makoto reasoned. "We'll exercise until it's warmer."

"Gou-chan told me that Rin-chan joined Samezuka's swim team." Nagisa popped up. That was a shock. Haru thought he'd never swim competitively again. Maybe... Rin was feeling better?

"Maybe we'll meet him at a tournament." Makoto said.

"We should enter tournaments!" Nagisa excitedly exclaimed. "Then we can do relays again."

"I only swim freestyle." Haru said flatly. How many times did he have to remind people of this?

"So you wouldn't swim in a relay?" Nagisa asked sadly. "Don't say that!" he whined. In an attempt to get Haru to change his mind (maybe?), Nagisa rubbed his head against Haru's back. "Come on..." Nagisa continued to beg. If nothing else, Nagisa was certainly cute.

"We can't do relays with three people." Haru reminded him.

"That's true." Nagisa conceded. "Which means we have to find one more member?!" He exclaimed in a panic. Yes, Nagisa... That's usually how clubs and relays worked. He was a year younger than Haru and Makoto, but sometimes Nagisa still acted like a spoiled kid. If he'd been more outgoing, Haru might've tousled his hair.

  
Kou had come up with a great idea to get a gym membership so they could practice in an indoor pool. According to their advisor, however, it wouldn't be possible without any accomplishments because their club budget wouldn't be enough.

Accomplishments sounded easy enough. They needed to place in a tournament for the budget review meeting to consider making their club budget bigger, but in order to do that they also needed four swimmers. That was easy enough.

"One more..." Haru said softly. "And I can swim all I want."

"Huh?" Makoto turned to look at him.

Haru didn't waste his breath explaining, he just made his way into the hall, skidding to a stop outside the Teacher's Lounge. He ran up to the nearest people he could find and held up Iwatobi-chan.

"Oi." He spoke up to get the two students' attention. "I'll give you this," by which he meant Iwatobi-chan, "so join the Swimming Club."

Both students responded "No, thanks."

That was the best he could do. He wasn't good with people. He never had been. Perhaps because he was so quiet.

A few hours later, Nagisa was dragging Haru by the sleeve to the open yard to watch track practice, with Makoto and Kou following them.

"Come on!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"What is it?" Haru asked.

"I found the guy we need!" Nagisa explained.

"He's in track?" Kou questioned.

"He can't join us then." Makoto reasoned.

"Look, that's him." Nagisa said, pointing out a dark haired guy that was stretching. "It's gotta be fate!" They questioned if he'd been on his swimming team before or if he had a high score. "I'm talking about his name!" Nagisa continued.

"His name?" Makoto questioned.

"Yeah!" Nagisa said. "His name is Ryugazaki Rei-chan! He's just like us! He's a boy with a girly name!"

"That's all?!" Kou exclaimed.

There was more random discussion among the friends that Haru tuned out.

"It looks like he's about to jump." Haru stated. They all watched as Rei pole vaulted.

"He has beautiful form." Makoto said. "He's probably a great diver."

So he'd be their new swimmer if they could get him? Haru didn't have a problem with that. As long as they could get a fourth member. Nagisa took it upon himself to recruit Rei, and they all decided to call it a day and head home.

  
The next day, Nagisa approached Haru and Makoto's desks and complained that he couldn't get Rei to join. Oh well, they'd find someone else.

"I think Rei-chan hates water." Nagisa whined.

"Forget him." Haru stated. "He doesn't deserve the water."

"If you say that," Nagisa started, slamming his hands on Haru's desk, he continued, "nobody will join!" Nagisa grabbed Haru's jacket by the lapels and shook him, "We'll have to spend all winter lifting weights and jogging! Is that okay, Haru-chan?" Haru was so shocked it actually showed on his face. He'd never seen Nagisa like this. He was hysterical.

Haru turned away. "No." He said simply.

They had to focus back on school, but then on the way home, Makoto spoke up.

"Hey, Haru, we're probably going to compete sometime." Makoto started, "Is that really okay with you?" Haru turned from the ocean to look at Makoto while he thought. "Even if you end up racing Rin again, and even if you end up beating him again?"

So Makoto knew... Haru hadn't told anyone he'd beaten Rin in a race five years ago.

"Who told you?" Haru asked, turning back to watch the ocean.

"I ran into Coach Sasabe the other day."

"It's in the past." Haru responded, despite the pain that hit him at the memory. "Besides..." Haru continued quietly, "he started swimming again. That's enough."

  
The next day, Kou stood before them and announced she'd scheduled a joint practice with Samezuka.

"Did you ask Rin?" Makoto asked.

"Rin wouldn't listen to me, so I went straight to the captain!" Kou responded.

"So this time we have permission to swim in Samezuka's indoor pool." Makoto said, and turned to smile at Haru.

"But..." Kou started, "since it's a joint practice, we need to bring four members minimum."

"We need to recruit a new member before the practice." Nagisa reiterated.

That evening, Haru was feeding the neighborhood cats. He didn't really care about most people, but he did love animals. He sneezed, though, and scared the critters off.

"Somebody's definitely talking about me." Haru said to no one in particular. Was Rin talking about him? For some reason, the idea made his heart flutter. Weird. He needed to go to bed. Now.

The next morning, Nagisa ran up to Haru and Makoto out of breath.

"What are you doing?" Haru asked.

"Haru-chan, Mako-chan..." Nagisa looked around and his voice rose in excitement, "Oh, Rei-chan!"

Rei walked up and faced Haru.

"Are you Haru-chan-san?" Rei said. What the hell? That pissed Haru off.

"Don't use 'chan' and then add 'san'." Haru responded.

"Is something up?" Nagisa asked. Was he picking up on Haru's mood? Rei turned to Nagisa.

"I'm willing to participate in your joint practice as a trial member." Rei stated.

"What? Really?!" Nagisa exclaimed in excitement.

"But only on one condition:" Rei continued, "I won't swim."

Was this guy an idiot? How do you go to a joint swim practice and not swim? Whatever, at least they could swim indoors now. A part deep inside Haru added " _With Rin_ "

  
At the joint practice, the Samezuka Swim Team's captain, Mikoshiba, walked up to introduce himself. He turned to Haru.

"You're Nanase-kun, right?" Mikoshiba asked. "You won a bunch of regional tournaments in grade school."

"Yeah." Haru responded.

"I've heard a lot about you." Mikoshiba continued to drone on, but Haru's attention was focused on Rin who'd just walked in and the conversation he had with someone else, apparently named 'Nitori'.

"What's wrong?" Nitori asked Rin.

"Nothing." Rin responded and looked at Haru.

Haru quickly looked away.

When they were doing their time trials, Rei was heading toward the starting block. He looked very nervous.

"Don't underestimate the water." Haru said simply.

"I'm not!" Rei exclaimed. He got onto the starting block and got into position. Nobody was expecting his dive to turn into a belly flop, however. All of them stood dumbfounded at what just happened.

"U-Uh... He hasn't come back up." Makoto observed. It was true. Rei was still underwater. He couldn't swim.

That was when Haru ran toward the pool and dove in. Nagisa joined him underwater to help pull Rei up. Once Rei emerged with his arm over Haru's shoulder, he coughed and took deep breaths of the air he'd been deprived of.

They got Rei out of the pool and gave him a towel, then Rei sat by a wall hugging his knees.

"So, Rei-chan," Nagisa began, "You can't swim?"

"Yeah..." Rei responded. "Is that so bad?!" He exclaimed, "That's why I said I wasn't going to swim!" He looked away from the rest of the team.

"You should have said something earlier." Nagisa responded softly. He was good at dealing with outbursts like those. As happy as he was, he could also be quiet and understanding when he needed to be.

"How could I tell you I don't know how to swim?" Rei inquired. "It's against my sense of beauty." His fists clenched.

"Rei-chan..." Nagisa said softly, concern obvious on his face.

"I'll clear things up with Samezuka." Makoto announced.

Haru walked away and stood on the starting platform, ready to dive into the pool. He got into position and noticed Rin was watching him. His heart began to hammer in his chest, so he had to focus on the water and what he was doing, not the audience watching his performance. He did his lap, pulled off his swim cap and shook the water from his hair.

  
Nagisa pulled them all along to watch Rei's pole vaulting performance on the track team.

"You're not giving up yet?" Makoto asked.

"Of course not." Nagisa said, like it was obvious, "But it looks like Rei-chan... is feeling much better."

Rei pole vaulted and... spread his body out like he was going to belly flop into the pole. What the hell was he doing? Rei landed onto the pole, fell onto the mat below, and the pole hit him in the head.

"He fell." Makoto said simply. Thanks for the narration, Makoto. They couldn't see for themselves.

"Huh? He's coming over here." Nagisa observed. Was everyone in their group just going to state the obvious today?

Rei walked up to the bench all of them were sitting on.

"I want to be like you, Nanase-senpai." Rei stated. "I want that kind of freedom."

"It's not freedom." Haru responded. "It's freestyle."

"Anyway, I'd like to formally join the Swimming Club." Rei said.

"Really?" Nagisa asked excitedly.

"If you want to swim, go ahead." Haru said, turning away.

"However," Rei said, looking at Nagisa. "you were the one who initially invited me to join. I hope you will take responsibility." Rei turned his face away, a clear blush on his cheeks. "Nagisa-kun." He finished.

So that was the real reason Rei was joining the Swimming Club, huh?

Nagisa grinned and jumped up, wrapping an arm around Rei's shoulders.

"Sure! You can count on me!" Nagisa exclaimed in excitement.

Haru caught a blush on Nagisa's cheeks as well. The Swimming Club was about to become very interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Five swimsuits were before Haru on his bed. Most people said they looked the same, but he didn't see it. They were all different. They might have used the same colors, sure, but the patterns were different. Why didn't anyone else see that?

He couldn't decide which swimsuit to wear that day. He kept changing his mind. They all had different qualities, so which one should he wear?

He finally decided on one and joined Makoto outside.

"Morning." Makoto started when he saw Haru, "the day's finally here." He smiled.

The day for what? The day the pool could be swam in. When their club got together that day, Kou began a speech about training, but Haru wasn't listening.

Before she was finished talking, Haru ran past her and dove into the pool. Nothing was going to keep him away now.

When he reached the other end of the pool and emerged, he overheard his team discussing the training regimen. Kou said she found it when she was cleaning the house...

"It's my brother's old regimen." Kou said. Haru flinched at the mention of Rin.

Since Rei couldn't swim, they had to focus a lot on him. He started out stretching.

While Rei stretched, Haru stared at the training regimen. It made him feel a bit closer to Rin just holding it in his hand. He was so enraptured, he didn't notice Kou walking up to stand beside him.

"Are you that interested..." Kou asked, "in my brother's old regimen?" Haru felt like a little kid caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"Not really." He replied to her simply. "You can write down a regimen but not follow it." He then dove back into the water. When he emerged on the other side of the pool, Rei was getting ready to dive into the pool, so he watched to see how he'd do. His form when diving was a belly flop with his arms extended in a diving pose. Unfortunately, that wasn't all.

As soon as Rei hit the water, he sank. Once he came up for air, Nagisa suggested he learn how to swim first.

Rei really was an idiot.

While Nagisa and Makoto taught Rei how to swim, Haru just swam around.

Kou was waiting for him once when he popped out of the water.

"Haruka-senpai," she began, "why do you swim?" Haru looked at her for a few seconds and lowered his gaze.

"There's no particular reason." Even as he said it, that didn't sound quite right. Originally, it was to escape. His childhood hadn't been great. Until Rin came along, he'd only had Makoto as a friend. His parents were always too busy for him. Now, his real reason was probably... Rin. He had no other reason to swim competitively, except his rivalry with his old friend.

"My brother wants to be an olympic swimmer." Kou replied. "That's why he went to Australia."

"That's got nothing to do with me." Haru said. "Besides, it's just a dream."

"Maybe so." Kou responded. "But I think he'll get closer to his dream with you, Haruka-senpai. Like when you swam in that relay together."

Haru raised his gaze to look at Kou, and she just smiled.

It wasn't long after they all had to go home.

  
The next morning, Nagisa ran into Haru and Mako's school room dragging Rei along behind him.

"Look at this!" Nagisa exclaimed, ignoring Rei's protests at being dragged by the arm. He set down the sports fashion magazine in his hand, "Ta-da!"

"Jackets?" Makoto asked.

"Yep." Nagisa said, "We have a swimming club now, so we should get matching jackets."

"That's a good idea." Makoto said. "It'll give us an official feel."

"Right?" Nagisa responded. "I think we should go with this design and this color." he said, pointing at the magazine. "Plus we can add an image in addition to the school emblem." He continued.

"Are you putting Iwatobi-chan on it?" Rei interjected.

"That was the plan." Nagisa responded innocently.

"But it isn't beautiful." Rei lamented.

The discussion continued about the jackets, Nagisa suggesting they use a penguin. Haru pulled out his drawing pad and started drawing. When he was done and turned it around, it was Iwatobi-chan.

"B-Beautiful..." Rei said. Nagisa looked at him in surprise.

Kou rejected the idea of jackets, however, in favor of teaching Rei how to swim... within a week.

On day two of teaching Rei how to swim, Nagisa turned to Haru.

"Teach him how to swim!"

"No, that requires effort." Haru responded.

"Aw don't be like that." Nagisa whined and rubbed his head against Haru's shoulder. "Come on!" All further attempts to get Haru's assistance were ignored.

Day three of teaching Rei how to swim, it was raining. They couldn't practice, so everyone crowded in at Haru's house. Nagisa called it a 'Let's Figure Out Why Rei-chan Can't Swim' meeting.

"The water doesn't like him." Haru suggested.

"Poor Rei-chan..." Nagisa said sympathetically.

"That can't be." Makoto assured.

"Athletically challenged?" Kou suggested.

"Rei-chan runs really fast." Nagisa reminded her. "He tests well too."

"You're pretty smart, huh?" Makoto said.

"Do you like mackerel?" Haru asked.

"His head is too heavy!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Studying has enlarged his brain!" Kou continued.

"That's enough!" Rei exploded and stood. "The problem is your teaching! A proper coach would help more!"

"A coach..." Makoto thought aloud. "I know one!" He suddenly burst out.

Within half an hour, their old coach was sitting at the table with them... after bringing the pizza they ordered from his workplace.

"You want me to teach a kid who sinks like a rock?" He responded. "I used to coach, but I object."

"I can float, so I don't sink." Rei said defensively. "A better analogy is a submarine."

"Goro-chan," Nagisa said with a mouth full of pizza, and he took another bite before continuing, "teach him how to swim."

"Talk or eat, not both!" Goro-chan scolded. "I'm busy. You teach him. Bye." He responded and left.

"Didn't work." Makoto sighed.

Day four of teaching Rei to swim, Rei exclaimed he couldn't swim... because of his swimsuit. If Haru was that kind of person, he would've facepalmed. He was surrounded by idiots.

"That's the swimsuit I lent you." Nagisa said, "That's kinda mean." He pouted.

"It's not mean!" Rei exclaimed. "This speedo isn't streamlined for my body." Besides that, who actually wore speedos anymore?

Day five, they were on a train to go get Rei a swimsuit.

While there, Haru was trying to decide between two swimsuits and decided to try one on. Apparently Rei entered the changing room next to his because a little while later, Nagisa was calling out.

"Are you finished changing?" Nagisa asked.

"I knew there'd be something better than a speedo." Rei started. "Like this." Haru heard the sound of the curtain opening.

"Rainbow?!" Nagisa and Makoto both exclaimed simultaneously.

"So you got a Reinbow!" Nagisa said.

"Each color has a different psychological effect." Rei said proudly.

"You don't care how it looks?" Makoto asked.

Haru finished and opened the curtain.

"What do you think?" Haru asked.

"It looks exactly like your other swimsuits." Makoto deadpanned.

"Isn't it the same?" Nagisa asked.

"No." Haru responded, "this one fits better."

Nagisa and Makoto both decided to try swimsuits on too. When Nagisa showed his off, Rei always complimented how he looked. "That looks good on you!".... while scanning his form up and down.

Haru tried on another.

"I like this one."

"Tell us how it's different, Haru-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed.

Haru tried on another and opened the curtain, but his teammates weren't there. The curtain next to his being opened caught his attention, thinking it might be one of the others, so he turned toward it.

Rin walked out. Haru stared. He couldn't help it. Why was he staring?

"Nitori?" Rin called and looked around, then his eyes landed on Haru. "Haru?!" He called in shock. Haru mirrored his shock, more because he'd probably been caught staring.

"Rin!" Haru responded. It was... awkward. Especially since, rather than keeping eye contact, Rin stared at Haru's chest for a minute. Rin made an annoyed sound and turned in the direction of Nagisa's voice in the store. Then he turned back to Haru.

"I need to talk to you." Rin said. "Come with me."

It didn't take them long to get dressed, then Haru was outside with Rin. Haru stood a few feet away and Rin leaned against a chain link fence.

"Haru, what have you been doing for the past three years?" Rin asked. "You're better than this."

"I'm not better than someone who just got back from Australia." Haru responded. He was surprised the bitterness didn't show in his voice. Not only had Rin moved, but when he came back he was a completely different person.

"Idiot, are you mocking me?" Rin asked, facing Haru.

"I'm not." Haru said simply. "We raced, you won."

"I'd be pathetic not to win when you're in this shape."

"A win is a win." Haru sighed. "You beat me. Isn't that good enough?" He turned away from Rin. He didn't care about this. Shouldn't Rin be happy he won, regardless of Haru's condition? This conversation was pointless.

"It's not!" Rin spat back angrily. "I want a real race!" His expression changed from anger to sorrow. "Or else..." He continued, "I can't move on."

"You're a pain" Haru said quietly and started to walk away. "I only swim freestyle." He called back. "I won't swim for you."

He heard footsteps coming after him, he was roughly yanked by the arm and his back landed against the chain link fence. Rin's arms held the fence on either side of Haru. There was no escape. Haru kept Rin's gaze. Why was he so close?

"No," Rin said angrily. "You will swim for me." He said, his face inches from Haru's. They didn't break eye contact. Haru didn't know what to do. He lightly gripped the fence behind him. It'd be so easy to just lean forward... No, not happening.

"In that case," Haru started, grabbing Rin's arm without anger or malice to free himself from the arm prison. Pushing Rin's arm back towards him, he continued, "I want you to promise me something." Rin looked disappointed somehow, but Haru shook it off. "If you lose, don't say you're going to quit." Haru resumed, gently pushing Rin backwards in that position. "Don't embarrass yourself." He went on. "Don't cry if you lose." Rin gasped softly and yanked his arm from Haru's grip. The look that crossed his face a moment ago let Haru know the old Rin was still in there... Somewhere.

"I'm not a little kid anymore." Rin said. "This time, it'll be clear how different we are." He held Haru's gaze for a few moments longer before he turned and walked away. Haru watched him as he left. "Build muscle before the prefectural tournament." Rin called out as he walked away. "We'll settle things then."

"See you at the tournament." Haru called, still watching Rin go. As soon as Rin was out of earshot, Haru leaned against the chain link fence and let go a breath he didn't know he was holding. He shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. He needed to calm down. What the hell was happening to him? Why did his friend being so close make his heart race? He was glad his emotions didn't show on his face, or things could've gotten far more awkward.

  
Day six, Rei had a new swimsuit to try out. His dive into the pool was perfect. Aside from that, he sank. Again.

Haru dove in and swam up to Rei.

"I'll teach you." Haru said.

"Please help me!" Rei said desperately.

"However, I can only teach you freestyle." Haru said.

"Okay!" Rei responded.

Haru spent all day teaching Rei, teaching him everything he knew. Rei took to the water to try what he learned and... still sank.

Rei was depressed and sitting near the fence surrounding the pool. Haru wakled up to try to be encouraging.

"Haruka-senpai." Rei observed.

"Do what you want." Haru said.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked.

"Don't think about swimming." Haru responded. "Just dive in."

"I don't understand what you mean." Rei repeated. Haru stood there for several seconds.

"Dive in with your heart." Haru tried again.

"That doesn't help." Rei responded.

"Use your senses..." Haru started.

"Stop using abstract espressions." Rei interrupted. "How can I swim as freely as you? It's frustrating. Why is it I can't?"

Haru thought about the look on Rin's face when he admitted he couldn't move on until beating Haru at a race when he's at his best. It was the same look Rei wore now.

"I'm not free either." Haru admitted. It was true. He wasn't free. He only felt that way in the water, but in actuality, he felt like he was chained in a way to Rin. Once Rin entered his life, nothing was the same anymore. Haru had been... happy with Rin around. He'd cried when Rin left, he was devestated when Rin said he wouldn't swim again after Haru beat him in that race three years ago. Now, after so much time had passed, Haru still thought about Rin constantly. It was a real pain... Did his whole life revolve around Rin?

  
The final day, his teammates were discussing how Rei could compete. They speculated the person swimming in the pool was Haru.

"It's not me." Haru said when he walked up behind them.

Rei could swim Butterfly. He could join them in the tournament. Mission accomplished. It was time to begin practicing.

Nagisa showed off their new jackets. Rei lifted the back of his jacket and his face deadpanned as he asked about the Halloween-version of Iwatobi-chan. Nagisa innocently replied that Rei didn't want it on the jacket, so it was on the T-shirt instead. They were certainly getting along well. It almost pissed Haru off, but he didn't know why.

Makoto interrupted to discuss which events everyone would enter in the tournament.

Makoto and Nagisa were both doing the 100m and 200m, backstroke and breaststroke respectively. Haru responded he only swam freestyle, and wondered why Makoto bothered to ask after knowing him all this time. Then he turned to Rei.

"I can only swim butterfly." Rei said.

"That's right!" Nagisa said and bumped into Rei's side happily. A blush crept up Rei's cheeks at the contact.

Makoto continued, but when he mentioned the relay, Haru looked away. He was almost forced to swim in the relay by Rin. Maybe that was fine. He did wish Rin was joining them rather than competing against them, however.

Kou ran up and told them about a deserted island training camp she was excited about. Haru didn't really speak up much. It was a pain, but he'd go along with everyone. Since it was a training around ocean, he only wondered how Makoto would do.

Since they couldn't afford it, they settled for a beach with three nearby islands to swim to. The boys had to camp on the beach while the girls, Ama-chan- their advisor- and Kou, got a room.

  
Rei got sea sick and as soon as they landed he ran off to the bathroom. Shortly after, he called everyone over saying they needed to see something.

They stood at the glass windows of the sports gym nearby and watched as Samezuka's swimming team practiced. It was like a universal conspiracy that Haru kept winding up in the same place as Rin. He wondered if it was deliberate. Their manager was Rin's sister, after all.

"Why is Samezuka's swim team here?" Makoto questioned.

"Ah, Rin-chan's here." Nagisa observed.

"Did you plan this, Kou-chan?" Makoto asked. Haru wanted to punch him for reading his mind. Again.

"I didn't know this time." Kou responded.

"Really?" Even Nagisa sounded wary.

"My brother wouldn't listen to me anyway." Kou said.

"It's a lucky coincidence then." Nagisa said, "We should go say hello."

"Don't." Haru spoke quickly.

"Why not?" Nagisa asked.

"I promised him," Haru continued, even as he stared at the redhead in the pool room below, "that we'd meet at prefecturals."

"What? Really?" Nagisa exclaimed. "Then let's go!"

They needed to set up camp and everything, so they needed to get moving. Haru glanced back at the building once, before following the rest of his team back to the beach.

Their first day, they only managed about half of the training regimen they'd set for themselves. Rei was obviously anxious about it, feeling like he was the one that slowed everyone down. After dinner, they decided who'd share a tent with who using a game. Sleep came easily after the long day of stamina-draining training.

However, a huge storm rolled in. Haru woke up to the sound of yelling and Nagisa woke up when Haru sat up. Haru decided to check on Makoto in the other tent. But he wasn't there, and neither was Rei. Haru looked around and saw figures in the ocean, so he ran into the ocean to help. He called back to Nagisa to get Amakata-sensei, but Nagisa followed him instead saying it wasn't safe alone.

Haru grabbed Makoto who'd passed out, Nagisa grabbed Rei and they headed to the nearest island. It was a relief for Haru to get out of the ocean, though Makoto was really heavy. He collapsed to the ground. After catching his breath, he shook Makoto to get him to wake up.

"Makoto... Makoto! Wake up!" It looked like he was about to lose his best friend. He began to panic. He looked around. "Someone? Is anyone there?! Nagisa? Rei!" Nothing. Nobody answered. He had to think calmly. Even as he thought, his body trembled. Then, he felt stupid it took him so long to make sure Makoto was still alive. He listened for Makoto's heartbeat. "He's alive..." Haru said to himself. "Is he injured?" He checked his body. "No..." He tilted Makoto's head to listen for his breathing. "His breath is shallow..." He sat back for a moment debating on what to do. Finally, he tilted Makoto's head back, and held his nose closed. Haru was going to perform CPR. He took a deep breath, moved his mouth closer to Makoto's, and then Makoto turned suddenly and started coughing up water. "Makoto!" Haru called. "Makoto!"

Makoto looked up.

"Haru?" He wheezed out.

"Are you okay?"

"Where are we?" Makoto asked.

"Sukishima, I think. The island across from the tents." Haru responded.

"Where's Rei?" Makoto asked and started to get up. Haru held his friend down by the shoulders.

"You shouldn't be moving around!" Haru exclaimed. "You need to rest!"

"Rei's in trouble!" Makoto was panicked.

"Nagisa's taking care of it!" Haru responded in a tone that invited no arguments. "Don't worry."

They found a place under an overhanging rock to get out of the rain.

"Do you feel any better?" Haru asked after a long silence.

"Yeah." Makoto answered.

"You're still scared of the ocean, huh?" Haru observed.

"I thought I'd gotten over it," Makoto answered honestly. "But when I saw Rei drowning, I froze." He covered his face with his hand. "Sorry I dragged you into this."

"It's not your fault." Haru said.

"Still, the camp and the swimming club were my ideas." Makoto lamented. "I just wanted to swim with you again... I wanted us to swim in a relay again... Though, if you're not there..." Makoto turned to look at Haru. "It's meaningless without you! I want to swim with you!"

Haru knew this was coming eventually. Makoto never really hid his feelings for Haru. These sorts of moments always made Haru painfully aware that, while his kind best friend that could read his mind was in love with him, Haru couldn't love him back.

"Ah, there they are!" Nagisa called. He and Rei were walking over to join them. Makoto was relieved and got up to meet them both. Haru would have to save his rejection of Makoto's confession for another time.

"I'm sorry about this!" Rei said.

"At least it turned out fine." Makoto said.

"That wasn't fine." Haru interjected. "Why were you swimming in the ocean at night?"

"You were practicing, right?" Nagisa chimed in. "He wants to catch up to the rest of us." Rei affirmed Nagisa's understanding of the situation. "Rei-chan wasn't the only one at fault. Makoto tried to save him alone, and Haru jumped into the ocean without thinking." Haru was thinking they needed to switch the 'N' in Nagisa to an 'M'... and maybe add another 'MA'... Mamagisa.

"So did you." Haru reminded him when he mentioned getting into the ocean without thinking. Nagisa just giggled.

"It's cold." Nagisa said.

"Yeah, I wonder if there's a place we can take shelter from the rain." Makoto said. They all spotted a lighthouse on a nearby hill about the same time. They reached it and decided to go inside. It was abandoned, but they found food and water, plus there was a roof over their heads, so they stayed dry. It looked like the rain wouldn't let up until morning, so they discussed what to do. Apparently sleep was out. Makoto really did hate dark, creepy places. Haru almost sighed in annoyance.

Nagisa made a dice out of a cardboard box. He wrote their names on it. It was almost like Truth or Dare, but it seemed more like Truth or... Truth. Seriously, what were they? Gradeschool children?

Rei was first, Nagisa asked for an embarrassing story. Apparently as a kid, Rei had forgotten his underwear in the locker room once.

"Don't worry." Nagisa started, putting his hand on Rei's shoulder. "If you leave your underwear in the locker room, I'll be sure to grab them."

"I won't!" Rei exclaimed, a blush rising to his cheeks. Nagisa rolled the dice again and it landed on Haru. Nagisa asked for a love story. Haru stood.

"Haruka-senpai's been in love before?" Rei whispered to Makoto.

"I have no idea." Makoto answered.

"When I was in grade school," Haru started, "my parents took me to hike up a mountain nearby. There, I fell in love." He thought this one up pretty quickly. His first human love was something he didn't want to share just yet. So he continued, "I couldn't look away. There was an intensely beautiful, positively vibrant, sparkling and pristine... Waterfall." Haru knew that wasn't what they wanted, but Nagisa didn't push him for anything else. Everyone knew he loved the water, and most assumed he had no human emotions until he exploded on them or something. The only ones who had ever really seen his emotions were Makoto and Rin.

Nagisa tried to imitate a penguin on his turn. He was pleased because he made Makoto smile. After a bit more discussion, Makoto finally admitted why he was afraid of the ocean. An old fisherman he respected gave him goldfish, it stormed once, and everyone on the fishing boat drowned. He didn't mention that was when they first met Rin and Kou.

They noticed it had stopped raining so they ran outside to look at the stars and point out constellations, both real and imaginary since Nagisa was pointing out fake ones.

Once dawn broke, they were judging the distance from the island they were on to their tents on the other beach. Makoto gave Haru one last longing look before he joined Nagisa and Rei in the ocean to begin their swim. Haru sighed and followed. Halfway back, he did recognize a head of red hair on the beach. It helped him keep going.

When they reached the sand, they didn't even make it to their tents before they all passed out. It had been a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

One day during lunch, they were all eating together on the roof when Kou came up announcing she'd developed the pictures from the training camp. While the others were engrossed in the pictures of themselves, the only one that caught Haru's eye had a particular redhead standing in his swim gear before the indoor pool on the island they'd been on. He hesitated briefly, then picked it up and stared at it.

"Is that the Samezuka's team?" Nagisa asked. "When did you take that, Gou-chan?"

"I did some scouting." Kou responded. She began rambling on about who was competing with who in the tournament and talking about the charts she'd do. She looked at Haru and continued, "And my brother is in--"

"The 100m free." Haru finished for her, not looking up from the photo in his hand. He knew. Rin would want a chance to face him one-on-one. Nagisa jumped up and ran to Makoto's side. He probably thought Haru couldn't hear him, but Nagisa was a loud whisperer.

"Haru-chan says he doesn't care about times or winning," Nagisa continued, "But he gets going when racing Rin-chan." Haru could feel Makoto's gaze shift to him, but he didn't look up from the photo. Without looking, he knew the look on Makoto's face. Sorrow. He knew his love was one-sided, and now maybe he understood it always would be. In the corner of his eye, Haru saw Rei lift an eyebrow... Probably because of how long Haru had been staring at Rin's photo.

A strong gust of wind came through and blew the photo out of his hand, and he watched it fly away. _Rin_. He felt forlorn now that it was gone. He hoped he'd find it later, though it was unlikely.

After school, they visited a shrine to pray for luck and Haru decided to get a fortune. Everyone made a big deal out of his 'half luck' fortune. He paid more attention to the part at the bottom. 'You will meet the one you long to see.'

After they were done visiting the shrine, everyone headed home. Haru wasn't really paying attention to anything, just mechanically walking the same route home as always.

"Ah, Haru, look!" Makoto stopped and pointed up a tree. Haru looked and his eyes widened. There was the picture of Rin that the wind took away. "Here," Makoto handed his backpack to Haru. "Hold this, I'll get it." He didn't give Haru a chance to protest. It helped that he was tall, he could reach it easily once he was up a couple branches. When he came down, he held the photo out for Haru to take as he took his backpack back. Haru took the photo and looked at Makoto. He looked heartbroken. "Ah, just... Don't let a chance slip by." Makoto said and resumed walking.

Haru didn't ask what he meant. He knew. Don't let the chance to tell Rin his feelings slip by. Did Haru even know his feelings? His heart said he did.

The rest of the walk home was silent. They didn't even say goodbye to each other.

  
It was unusual for Haru to have to wait for Makoto these days. It was the morning of the prefecturals. When they were kids, Haru often had to wait for Makoto, but after Rin left, it was the other way around. Often Haru didn't even want to go to class back then, so Makoto had to get him and drag him to school.

"Sorry I'm late." Makoto said as he exited the house.

"It's fine." Haru responded. Makoto's eyes were a little red. He must've cried a lot the previous night. Haru didn't mention it, and neither did Makoto. They just walked to the train station in silence.

They boarded the train and arrived at the tournament. Rei and Nagisa greeted them. Haru just trailed behind. They stopped at the auditorium where all the teams were stretching and they checked out the large pool outside. Haru's attention was drawn elsewhere. He was looking for that familiar color of hair.

Kou had them all in the bleachers and was explaining where everyone was. Nagisa pointed out that Rin and Haru were in neighboring lanes, and Kou said the positions were based on qualifying times.

"That means they're even." Nagisa concluded.

Shortly after, Kou was pointing people out and the Samezuka captain stopped to wave at Kou. Haru's eyes frantically searched the surrounding area for the redhead on his mind.

"I don't see Rin." Makoto said. He turned to Haru and smiled before pulling out his watch, "Maybe he's headed to the assembly area." At that, Haru grabbed his swim cap and goggles and walked off.

Rin was waiting for him on his way to the assembly area. When Haru approached, Rin stood.

"I'm here, as promised." Haru never started conversations, but this time he did.

"Of course." Rin replied smugly, "I kept my qualifying time low so I'd be in the same round as you."

"You didn't have to." Haru responded. "We'd still have met in the final."

"I can't wait that long." Rin said. "Besides there's no guarantee that you'll make it to the final." He smirked. "No one else matters." He continued, "This is between you and me." He walked past Haru, "I look forward to it."

In the locker room, Haru reminded to himself, "Today, I become free."

It was their round next. Everyone stood on the starting blocks. Haru and Rin both shared one more look, before getting in the starting position. And then they dove in. Rin had gotten a lot faster. He passed Haru in the first leg of the race and made the turn into the second before Haru reached the other side. They passed each other as Rin swam towards the finish line, sharing another glance when they both turned for air. Haru was shocked and Rin was grinning. He was going to win.

Haru reached the other end of the pool and pushed off into the second leg of the race, but he was already lagging behind. He swam as fast as he could and finally caught up to Rin. They were neck and neck, but Rin touched the finish milliseconds before Haru did.

They both emerged from the water, gasping for air. Once they saw the scoreboard, Rin celebrated.

"Yes!" Rin yelled and banged the water, laughing. Haru stood there still trying to catch his breath when Rin climbed out of the pool. He stopped in front of Haru.

"Haru!" Rin called. Haru looked up. "I win." Rin continued, "Now, I'll never swim with you again." He was smiling. Haru's heart sank. Rin's face took on a serious expression and he finished, "Never." Haru's eyes widened. He stared at Rin and watched as he walked away. It felt like a lead balloon had settled in Haru's gut. His eyes began to sting, and his sight grew blurry before he'd even gotten out of the pool.

He quickly climbed out of the pool and walked as fast as he could to the showers. There. That was the place to let hot drops of salt water flow. Nobody could tell the difference.

He stood under the spray, supporting his weight on the wall. He stared at the floor below him as tears dropped from his eyes and joined the shower spray to the drain below. Wasn't he supposed to become free after racing Rin? Did winning matter? No, he decided. It wasn't losing that had him so upset. It was what Rin said after. That he'd never swim with Haru again. That... That hurt the most.

After standing under the spray for a while and getting dressed, he sat in a hallway staring at the floor. When they raced as kids, if Rin had won, would he feel any different now? Rin was swimming to compete in the Olympics. What about Haru? Why did Haru swim? Nagisa calling for him interrupted his thoughts.

"There you are!" Nagisa exclaimed, out of breath. "Mako-chan's race is about to start! Hurry up!"

"I'll pass." Haru said.

"You can't!" Nagisa grabbed Haru's arm, "Let's go!" Haru unwillingly followed him.

He watched the race. Makoto finished his race in second, but noticed Haru and smiled at him. Haru turned away.

He stayed for Nagisa's race, and he stayed for Rei's race. None of them won, but he watched. Right afterward, he left. He had no reason to be there anymore.

  
It was late, but he was at the school. He needed tranquility. He needed quiet. It got dark, but Haru kept swimming in the school pool. He watched the moon as he floated on his back. What was it he wanted? What was he trying to do? Flashes of his time with Rin went through his mind. What was all of this for?

His thoughts hadn't let up or subsided, but it really was getting late, so he walked home. His light was on, which was odd. He didn't expect to see Makoto sleeping in his entryway when he opened the door. He noticed Makoto was holding Haru's cell phone, so he gently took it from him and listened to the message on it.

  
 _Haru-chan? Where are you right now?_ Nagisa was saying.

 _Please hurry home! We're all worried._ That was Rei.

 _I'm sorry Haruka-senpai! I signed you up for the medley relay!_ Kou said.

 _Yeah, so let's swim together tomorrow, Haru-chan._ Nagisa again.

 _I'll be fine! I'll memorize the theory by tomorrow!_ Rei again.

 _Rei-chan, you'll fail if you do that!_ Haru almost chuckled at Nagisa's outburst.

  
The message ended and Haru thought about it for a little bit. He gently shook Makoto awake, calling his name.

"We have a relay to swim, right?" Haru said. Makoto gasped in excitement.

It was already past midnight, so Makoto spent the night on a futon on the floor. They needed sleep if they were going to race in the relay the next day.

They had arrived at the tournament, they were practicing their relay. Haru took to the starting block, but before he pulled down his goggles, he spotted Rin watching them. He gasped softly, but regained his composure and got ready to swim. He couldn't think about Rin now. He didn't need answers to his questions now. He dove into the water to begin his leg of the race. He won... But it was bittersweet in a way. His friends were there to greet him after they won, but he couldn't stop wondering why Rin wasn't with them. Something just felt... wrong.

He took Makoto's outstretched hand and was pulled out of the pool, then ambushed by Nagisa and Rei. He swore Nagisa was a monkey in a past life, the way he leaped onto Haru and wrapped his arms and legs around him. How he managed to stay up without Haru's help, he'd never know. He almost wished he could pry Nagisa off himself and shove him onto Rei... He had a feeling Rei would like that.

  
They were hailed as heroes at their school... sort of. A banner was reused with another team replaced with 'Swimming club' but it was something. Haru was staring at it.

"We won?" He said to himself quietly and walked into the school. It still didn't feel right. Rei might've been a friend, but it still wasn't the same without... him.

He couldn't focus on school. He just kept staring out the window. He thought of the relay, and while it had his heart beating in anticipation, it also hurt. _Rin_. He couldn't get him out of his head. It was just getting worse. He needed to do something about this, but what?

As soon as class was over, he went to the pool. He needed to clear his head.

It wasn't long after that the others showed up. Haru emerged from the pool and shook his hair free of water. Kou handed him a towel.

"I'm happy to see you so motivated." Kou said.

"I'm not." Haru replied. "I was swimming because I don't know what to do." After a few moments, he continued, "I figured I should ask the water about matters involving water." and the heart.

"What do you--" Kou started.

"Well, everyone's here now." Makoto interrupted. Haru, for once, was thankful that Makoto was looking out for him. He didn't want to get into it, especially with Rin's sister. "Let's start practice." Makoto finished.

Later at Haru's house, Nagisa and Makoto showed up. Nagisa was in a yukata already.

Hachiman-sama's summer festival was going on and they were going to drag him along.

"Come on, Haru-chan," Nagisa started, "It'll be fun!"

"But..." Hari protested.

"The shrine also hosts a festival for the god of water." Makoto said. It wasn't really water he wanted to pray about... But he wasn't going to bring that up. "We should pay a visit before regionals. If that's okay with you."

"Rei-chan wants you to join us." Nagisa added, he then imitated Rei, "The four of us must go together, or there's no point." Nagisa grinned, "His words." He finished.

"Okay." Haru responded. "I'll get dressed."

They arrived and Haru tagged along. He was lost in thought as Rei and Nagisa bickered like usual. Haru had some... different thoughts than normal lately and had to swallow. Makoto got his attention and they followed the other two. Nagisa really was like a kid.

He kept walking around with them, but he just wasn't really having fun. There was nothing he wanted to do at a festival. Why did he come again? He just wanted to go home and sit in the bath.

They met back up with Nagisa and Rei, but they were acting strange. It didn't really matter, he didn't particularly want to be there anyway.

An hour or so later, Nagisa was sneakily checking his phone.

"Then Rin-chan could still be--" Nagisa was talking to himself.

"What are you doing?" Haru interrupted him. Nagisa told him about Rin being at the festival.

"Rin's here?" Haru asked.

"Yeah." Nagisa said.

"Oh." Haru continued, "It's okay. Tell Rei to come back."

"Okay." Nagisa said. "I'll go get him." and he ran off.

Haru and Makoto walked up a hill that overlooked the festival. Haru needed quiet. He leaned over the railing, watching the people below. Makoto just stood beside him for a while.

"You know," Makoto finally spoke up, "I was frantic about the relay today because we hadn't practiced, but I was just happy to swim with you... With everyone." Makoto turned to Haru and smiled.

"I'm..." Haru started, "Not so sure anymore." He was quiet for a minute. "I don't need a reason to swim. I just need to feel the water. That's what I always believed. But when I lost to him, everything changed." He was quiet another minute. "I won't get to... swim with Rin again." Even he could hear the tremble in his own voice but he couldn't help it. At least this was Makoto. Someone he'd known all his life and trusted. "I didn't care about anything at that point." A tear fell down his cheek. "Not the tournament or anything." He finished softly. He swallowed hard and resumed, "When I saw you guys swim, I remembered I'd trained hard with you all. I may not be motivated, but if you guys wanted to do a relay, then I would swim. Then I remembered what it was like to swim in the same lane, and have everyone waiting at the finish line. It made me happy too."

Haru turned to Makoto, Nagisa and Rei ran up.

"I want to do the relay with you all." Haru said. Everyone was excited. The festival was over, it ended on a good note. It was time to go home.

Haru lied on his bed staring at the photo of Rin he had that was taken at the training camp. His heart was pounding in his chest. He truly missed... Rin. What was this feeling.

He set the photo on his nightstand and turned out the light. He needed to sleep.

  
The next day, Kou ran out to greet the swimming club members. She was out of breath, but she still managed to say what she wanted to.

"Rin's participating in the upcoming relay!"

The stunned faces of everyone, including Haru, focused on Kou. Haru's heart sped up. He'd get to swim with Rin at least one more time... If nothing else, that was worth doing the relay.


	5. Chapter 5

They managed to get Coach Goro Sasabe to agree to coach them for the relay. It had been so long that everyone was out of practice. Goro decided to film their legs of the relay practice separately so they could check their own forms.

Haru watched his and knew how to fix it. He headed back toward the starting block and heard Nagisa mention he was being proactive. Of course he was. This was more than a race for him. He needed to see Rin and hopefully convince him to keep swimming with Haru. He didn't care about anything more than swimming with Rin.

In the locker room, everyone was talking to and about Coach Goro.

"Goro-chan's helped us improve our exchanges." Nagisa said with a smile.

"Let's keep up the hard work." Makoto said, "So we can face Rin again in the relay."

At the mention of Rin, Rei left. Haru suspected he was feeling jealous, or like an intruder in their group. Everyone was grateful that Rei joined them and everyone got along with him. Nagisa especially really enjoyed his company. However, they did all talk about Rin a lot. It must've weighed heavily on him. What could they do to cheer Rei up?

  
At Coach Goro's house, they ate dinner. Afterwards, everyone lit fireworks and Nagisa ran around chasing Rei with one.

Kou found an old album in the house and ran outside with it to show everyone.

"These bring back memories!" Nagisa exclaimed and pointed at one, "There's Gou-chan!" Then he pointed at another, "This is when we had a barbeque behind the club."

"What? Nobody told me about that." Kou said.

"It was before Rin-chan transferred." Nagisa explained.

"Nanase-kun looked so mature even then." Ama-chan said.

"You're supposed to smile for pictures." Goro scolded.

"Haru-chan is always smiling on the inside." Nagisa grinned. He was wrong, but who was Haru to burst his bubble.

"This is from the summer tournament when we were in fifth grade." Makoto said, pointing to another picture.

"Haru-chan won then, too, didn't he?" Nagisa asked a rhetorical question. Haru was holding a 1st place certificate with the trophy in front of him in the picture.

"Huh?" Kou pointed to the back of the same picture. "Is that my brother?"

"We didn't know Rin yet." Haru stated.

"Wow!" Nagisa exclaimed, "We met before we got to know each other!"

"Like you're connected by the red string of fate." Ama-chan said.

"Is there a red string that connects boys?" Kou asked. Haru sure hoped so. If he'd been a more outgoing person, he would've told Kou to get over her prejudices too.

"Oh, this is where Rin starts showing up." Goro changed the subject.

"This was around when he transferred." Makoto said.

"It snowed hard that day." Nagisa said, pointing to the picture. "We all made snowmen." Did it count as snowmen when they're sea creatures? Haru had made a dolphin and Rin had made a shark. As always in the photos with Rin, he was right next Haru and looking at him and smiling. It made Haru's chest ache. Even though he never smiled in the photos, he remembered how happy he was with Rin by his side.

However, with everyone talking about Rin and their past tournaments, Rei looked upset. Haru wished he could point it out to Nagisa, because he was no good with cheering people up, but Nagisa was a master at it.

On their way back home, Rei suddenly stopped walking. Nagisa, Makoto, and Haru all stopped as well and Makoto asked Rei what was wrong.

"Tell me..." Rei began, "What happened... Between the four of you?"

"You mean with Rin-chan?" Nagisa inquired.

"You were all so close in those pictures." Rei observed. "You all looked so happy."

"Rei," Haru spoke up softly, "I don't know if there's any point talking about this now. But if you're interested, I can tell you what happened."

"Please tell me." Rei insisted. "I'm tired of being the only outsider! I'm part of the team too!"

"Okay." Haru smiled. "Rin was obsessed with relays from the beginning." Haru downcast his eyes and continued, "He didn't tell us why until right before the final."

He told the story about how Rin told them who his dad was. His dad had wanted to be an Olympic swimmer, but became a fisherman and died in an accident instead. The same fisherman that gave Makoto his goldfish. The same fisherman that died and caused Makoto's fear of the ocean.

He continued on retelling that Rin decided to go to Australia but wanted to join his dad's old swimming club beforehand. Rin wanted to follow the dream his dad never could. He'd insisted he wanted them to be the best team around.

"We won the medley race," Haru went on, "and Rin went to Australia." His voice grew softer, "Rin said he'd show me a sight I'd never seen before. After we won the relay, I felt like I really did see something." He also felt something too, even back then at the age of twelve. He felt so empty when Rin left. Makoto noticed but tried his hardest to keep Haru together. He never did recover.

"So if you swam in the relay and won," Rei started, "why is your relationship so different now?"

Haru closed his eyes. He knew he told Rei he'd explain, but he hated recalling this part. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"During the winter break of our first year in middle school," Haru started. “I ran into Rin while he was visiting. We were waiting for a train to go by early in the morning. I looked up and there was Rin. It took him a moment but as soon as he looked up, he called my name. But he wasn’t smiling and he didn’t sound excited. As soon as it was safe to cross, I ran to him and asked about him being back.” Haru smiled at the memory. He’d told Rin he could’ve called. He’d sounded like a housewife. Rin, in kind, said it’d be embarrassing.

“We discussed swimming and he smiled, but it wasn’t the same.” Haru continued, “He said he wanted to race and see who was faster. That itself was unlike him.” He knew Haru didn’t care about being fast or winning, but he still challenged Haru to a race. “We went to our old swimming club and raced.” Haru sighed. “I won... Afterwards, out of the pool, Rin dropped to his knees and cried.” He swallowed again. This was really hard. “I’d never seen him cry before. I tried to go hug him, but he walked right past me.” He ignored the stunned expressions of his friends. He never hugged anyone of his own free will. “He started to run out of the club, but I caught him by the arm. I didn’t understand what was going on. I asked him what was wrong and pointed out how odd he’d been acting. He ripped his arm away and simply said he quit swimming. And that was it. He ran away.”

“I never knew.” Nagisa spoke up.

“I couldn’t tell anyone back then.” Haru explained.

“So that’s why you quit swimming in middle school.” Nagisa reasoned. Yes. Haru didn’t want to keep swimming if Rin had quit. There was no reason to.

“Haru felt guilty about what happened with Rin.” Makoto said by way of explanation. It was more than that, but Haru wasn’t going to admit that now.

“But didn’t your race the other day put an end to all that?” Rei asked. Haru flinched at the memory of Rin telling him they’d never swim together again. “You’re free now.” That’s where he was wrong. If anything, Haru felt more chained down than he did before. “You can swim how you like, so why are you upset about losing?” Haru clenched his fists as Rei continued, “Why is he entering the relay? I don’t understand!” Haru smiled sadly.

“I don’t understand either.” Haru said softly. “But for some reason, I’m looking forward to racing Rin again.”

  
The next day, Rei wasn’t at practice. Afterwards, Coach Goro told them all to check on him. Nagisa made up some stupid story that Rei was sick on a popsicle, but Haru figured it was about Rin.

Sitting in Rei’s room, Rei was surprised everyone was worried about him. After making sure he was okay, everyone just decided to sit around and talk.

“Rei, did you really go see Rin?” Haru asked suddenly.

“I told them everything.” Nagisa said. “Sorry, Rei-chan.” Rei smiled and tousled Nagisa’s hair saying it was okay.

“I did.” Rei answered.

“Was it because I told you about our past?” Haru inquired.

“No, I had my own reasons to meet Rin-san.” Rei stated. “But it’s okay now. I’m done worrying about him. It’s not my problem.”

“Okay then.” Haru smiled. “The four of us are a team now, Rei.”

“We need you in our team.” Makoto said.

“Yeah!” Nagisa said, “Every member is irreplaceable, Rei-chan!”

Nagisa then pulled out the melon bread they brought as a gift and shoved it into Haru’s mouth. He almost choked to death. It was so dry. Makoto was freaking out, but Rei brought Haru tea before he passed out.

A few days later, they were off to regionals.

The bus trip was long. They stopped a few times to get something to eat, drink, and to relieve themselves. Nagisa was as hyper as ever, running everywhere. He kept trying to shove food in Rei’s mouth. Those two always sat next to each other. Even though Rei looked annoyed by Nagisa, it was obvious he really loved his company, too.

Haru kept his gaze outside the window whenever they were in the bus. In quiet times, Rin always came to the forefront of his mind. He wondered how he was feeling. It was a sudden decision for him to decide to participate in the relay, what brought that on? Had he heard Haru agreed to be in the relay and decided to race again? He already won, why would he want to race Haru again? It was nerve wracking thinking he’d see Rin again soon. What did he want to do when he saw Rin again? He wished he could just turn off his brain. He couldn’t stop the running thoughts.

They arrived in the town and checked in at their hotel. Haru was sharing with Makoto and Rei was sharing with Nagisa. Makoto was saying he was nervous sharing a room with Haru.

Haru almost rolled his eyes. Makoto always said stuff like that, but Haru just didn’t think of him that way. Sometimes he wished he could, especially when Rin had changed so much.

Rei and Nagisa popped over so everyone could get dinner. Afterwards, they decided to check out the regional tournament’s pool. It was closed, but Haru knew they could check it out in another place. They ran up lots of stairs in order to see it. Makoto had to stop and catch his breath several times. Nagisa, ever full of energy, ran up the stairs calling out to the rest to hurry up. Rei warned him it was dangerous to run in the dark.

At the top of the hill, they could see the pool. It was gigantic. The size of a football field, Haru guessed.

Back in the hotel, they were trying to sleep, but they couldn’t. They had a little meaningless discussion.

Haru kept thinking about Rin. His heart was pounding at the prospect of seeing Rin. He wanted to see Rin smile again. Silent tears slipped down his cheeks and his hand clenched the sheets underneath him. Would Rin ever get back to normal? Haru finally spoke back up.

“Makoto,” Haru started, “I appreciate you being here for me. Thank you.” He may not be in love with Makoto, but Makoto had always been there for him.

Haru got up and went for a run. It was odd he ran into Nagisa while he was out. Nagisa was out looking for Rei who had left in the night.

“Why are you out here, Haru-chan?” Nagisa asked. “Too nervous to sleep, huh?”

“Not exactly.” Haru said. Nagisa admitted he was nervous, worrying about if he screwed up his dive or something.

“We’re racing Rin-chan tomorrow too.” Nagisa said. “That’s probably why you’re nervous.” Not quite. He was nervous about seeing Rin period. That was the only thing on Haru’s mind. Rin. That’s always what was on his mind lately. Haru thanked Nagisa for creating the swimming club and pushing him to be in the relay. Nagisa, as always, got overly excited and hung onto Haru, despite his protests.

  
The next day, Haru was standing and staring up at a cherry blossom tree when Nagisa called out to him to hurry up. They needed to register at the tournament. Before joining his teammates, Haru grabbed a stick and drew on the dirt in front of it.

They walked into the building where Goro and Kou met them, but Haru was searching the area for Rin.

“Seems Rin isn’t here yet.” Makoto smiled at him. It really irked Haru how he always did that. What was he, psychic? “I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” Makoto added, averting his eyes. Haru felt bad because he knew how Makoto felt. One-sided love was an awful thing to experience.

When they were being given a speech about the tournament, Haru spotted Rin in the crowd. He couldn’t take his eyes off him. Even though Haru could only see his back, Rin looked down.

Haru watched Rin when he got on the starting block for the 100m freestyle event.

Something was wrong.

Rin dove in later than the other swimmers, and he was behind the others when he hit the second leg of the race, too. “Rin...” Haru whispered.

Rin had lost. He was gasping for breath at the end, and slipped twice when he tried to get out of the pool. This wasn’t normal.

Haru jumped up and ran out of the auditorium, his teammates following behind for some reason unbeknownst to him.

Haru was desperately searching for Rin when he heard Rin shout “Shut up!” and bang his fist into something... A vending machine? Haru changed his trajectory.

“Senpai, listen to me!” Nitori was saying. “If you break the vending machine, you won’t be allowed to participate in the next tournament!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Rin yelled. “I don’t give a damn what happens! I’m obviously no better than this, that’s why I was taken off the relay! Forget it! I quit! I’m done swimming!” He kicked a trashcan and stalked down the hallway. Nitori tried to call out to him, then noticed Haru and his team standing there before running off after Rin.

Rin was done swimming... Again? Haru’s heart broke. He was also taken off the relay? Why? How did this happen? What was Haru working so hard for all this time?

“Rin-chan was removed from the relay?” Nagisa questioned.

“We thought we’d be able to race Rin if we made it to the final.” Makoto said. He turned. “Haru...” He said, looking right at Haru who looked like he was going to break right then and there.

All Haru could hear was Rin screaming ‘I’m done swimming!’ It was just like when they were kids and his soft voice said in a whisper that he quit swimming. Haru couldn’t do this. He leaned against the wall and slid down, his head rested against his arms on his knees. Tears filled his eyes.

“I won’t get to swim with Rin again?” Haru asked softly, his voice thick with emotion. His teammates were worried and kept trying to snap him out of it. Makoto said they needed to focus on their race, but Nagisa was more worried about Haru.

“I have to tell you all something.” Rei said. “Rin-san called me out last night. He told me he didn’t quit swimming in middle school because of Haruka-senpai. He hit a wall training abroad and his confidence was shaken. That’s why he wanted to quit swimming. But after returning to Japan, running into Haruka-senpai, racing him again, he could put it behind him.” Haru’s mind flashed with images of Rin since he got back. The dull look in his eyes, his inabaility to really smile, how he treated his old friends.

“After seeing us at prefecturals,” Rei continued. “He remembered what it was like and wanted to swim in a relay again. That’s why he said he’d swim with Samezuka and give us the best relay ever.”

“I didn’t know he felt that way.” Nagisa said.

“He doesn’t really want that.” Rei said. “He didn’t care about the race. He just wanted to swim with Haruka-senpai again. To swim with Haruka-senpai and the best teammates he could have.” Haru’s heart was beating out of his chest as he stood.

“How do you know that?” Haru asked Rei.

“Because” Rei began, “I feel the same way. I want to swim with all of you in a relay. The best teammates I’ve ever had. I’m sure you feel the same way, Haruka-senpai! The race isn’t important!” Rei continued, looking at Haru pleadingly, “There’s someone you want to swim with, right?!” Was he that transparent? Could everyone see how he felt so easily?

“I want to swim with Rin!” Haru announced. He knew it might hurt Rei’s feelings, but he couldn’t help it. That’s where his heart lay.

“If you don’t do something, Rin-san will stop swimming for sure this time.” Rei said. “Haruka-senpai, you’re the only one who can help him!”

“But what can we do?” Makoto asked.

“You don’t get it?!” Rei exclaimed. “Logically, there’s only one solution!” Haru’s eyes widened in realization of what Rei was saying.

“Rei, are you okay with that?” Haru asked.

“Of course!” Rei exclaimed, smiling.

Haru’s heart was beating out of his chest as he ran all around the tournament building looking for Rin. His other teammates were with him, and Makoto suggested they split up.

Haru ran outside calling Rin’s name until he was out of breath and had to stop to gasp for air. An idea came to him. It was a longshot, but it was the only thing he could think of.

Haru ran to the tree he’d stopped in front of before, and slowed down when he saw Rin standing there staring at it.

Rin slowly turned to look and gasped in surprise, before one of anger.

“Haru...” Rin growled. “Why are you here? Come to laugh at my pathetic loss?” Who did Rin think he was talking to? Haru never ridiculed Rin, never wanted to see him hurt. He always wanted to cheer Rin up and make him happy.

“Rin...” Haru responded.

“You saw what happened in the free.” Rin continued, “And I was taken out of the relay.” His voice was getting more and more agitated. “The world is laughing at me. So join it. No need to pity me.” He stopped and watched Haru then he yelled again, “I told you to laugh! That’s all I’m good for anyway. I’m not even good enough to race you guys in a relay!”

“Calm down, Rin!” Haru exclaimed.

“Shut up!” Rin lashed out. “What would you know?!” Angry tears were forming in Rin’s eyes.

“I know” Haru started softly, clenching his fists “how fun it is to swim with friends. How good it feels to swim in a relay together. You’re the one who taught me that, Rin!” It was true. Haru had been a complete loner before Rin. Even Makoto couldn’t get Haru out of his shell, but Rin did. “You’re the reason I...” Haru couldn’t finish his sentence. Rin launched himself at Haru, grabbing his shirt by the collar and pulling him close.

“Shut up!” Rin yelled.

“I understand now!” Haru insisted, his hands on Rin’s, trying to get him to release his hands. “I found the answer! Why it is I swim! Who I’m swimming for!” He couldn’t believe this was all coming out now, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“I told you to shut up!” Rin yelled throwing a punch at Haru. Haru caught Rin’s fist and stumbled backwards, losing his footing and falling to the ground with Rin on top of him. Rin still held his collar in his hand.

Both fought for control of the fight. Haru only managed to roll over once before Rin gained momentum again and was once again the one in control on top of Haru. He glared at Haru, but something caught his attention and he stopped.

His attention was just a small distance away. Haru stared up at Rin for a moment before turning his head and looking where Rin’s attention was. It was on the place where Haru had written ‘For the Team’ with the stick. Rin’s favorite saying when they were kids.

“This tree looks like the cherry blossom tree that was in the school yard.” Haru explained softly, his attention back on Rin. “Isn’t that why you were here?” Haru’s gaze didn’t waver, even as tears fell from Rin’s eyes.

“Why?” Rin sobbed. “Why can’t I be free? I want to swim with you. I want to swim in a relay with you.” Haru smiled warmly. “But it’s too late now.” Rin whispered. Haru took Rin by the neck and sat up until their lips touched briefly. Haru’s eyes were closed, but he knew he surprised Rin because he gasped in shock. Haru pulled away, still keeping their faces close together and not dropping Rin’s gaze.

“It’s not too late.” Haru reassured him. “Let’s go, Rin.”

“Oh there they are.” Makoto said. Haru let Rin’s neck go but still didn’t lose eye contact until Nagisa called out.

“Rin-chan!” Nagisa had a wide grin. Rin stood off of Haru.

“Honestly, watching you annoys me so much.” Rei said. “Just date already.” He ignored the shocked look on Nagisa’s face, “and if you want to swim, then swim.” He finished. Haru took the chance to stand.

“Rin, come.” Haru said, holding his hand out for Rin. Rin turned to face Haru as he continued, “It’s my turn to show you something you’ve never seen before.” Haru finished. Rin smiled. A real smile, and ran to Haru, throwing his arms around his shoulders. He sniffled a few times and repeated ‘I’m sorry’ over and over. Haru hugged him tightly. “It’s okay.” He gently pushed Rin away by the shoulders and smiled. “Let’s go swim in a relay.”

  
They just barely made it in time for their race. Makoto and Nagisa did their legs, and it warmed Haru’s heart to see how real Rin’s smile was when it was nearly his turn. He grinned like he did as a kid and lowered his goggles. Then he dove in.

As soon as Rin his the wall, he called out. “Haru!”

Haru dove in, catching Rin’s eyes in a quick glance before he broke the water’s surface. He swam as fast as he could. Rin calling his name the entire time pushed him ever onwards.

He hit the wall and gasped for air as he emerged.

They were in first place. Makoto offered his hand to help Haru out of the pool, which he took. Then he looked to the side and was nearly knocked over as Rin ran into him and hugged him tightly. Their other two friends jumped into the group hug and Rin was crying again.

“Haru!” Rin said, “you showed me the best sight I could’ve asked for!” He sobbed. Haru guessed Rin didn’t mean his teenage package in a swimsuit.

“Yeah.” Haru said softly, his arms going around Rin. When they pulled apart, they all hugged in a circle, which was far less heavy than holding onto the weight of 3 teenage men at once.

Of course, they were disqualified because Rin wasn’t even from their school, but Haru could care less. His heart soared. They had their picture taken anyway. Rin had his arm around Haru’s shoulders again, and Haru looked away blushing. Rei was in the picture too.

They were scolded by their advisor, but she wasn’t too hard on them after the emotional display she saw after the relay.

They were asked why they did such a thing. it was broken up by each of them.

“Because it was only right.” Rei said.

“Yep. Even though we’re on different teams...” Nagisa went on.

“...we’ll always be...” Makoto continued.

“...teammates.” Haru finished. He ignored the looks the others gave him. They’d seen the display in front of the tree.

They all decided they’d make it to regionals again.

Their joint practices with Samezuka weren’t full of tension anymore. Haru and Rin had decided not to advance their relationship from friends for now. They each knew they liked each other. That was enough.

Before one of them, Nagisa had convinced Rin to redo the speech of the first time he joined their middle school when he was a kid. He was booed and critiqued, which he got prickly about.

That honestly made Haru smile. Rin had gotten brighter, but he still had a temper. He was also a notorious crybaby, though he apparently only saved his sobbing for Haru.

Kou came in that time to get everyone to the pool. Since Haru was the last to stand, Rin called him out.

“Haru, what are you doing?” Rin asked. “Hurry up.”

They were running to the pool, Haru and Rin running side by side.

“You’re following your dad’s dream?” Haru asked.

“No, I’m not following his.” Rin grinned. “I’m following my dream.” He looked at Haru while running. “What about you, Haru?”

“Me?” Haru asked and then he smiled. “I’m just following you.”

It was always a reminder for them that in the locker room, above the slots for their shoes, was the picture they’d taken that year at regionals.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a year since the Iwatobi Swimming Club swam in the regional relay tournament. They had been disqualified, because instead of Rei Ryugazaki joining them in the relay, they had Rin Matsuoka from Samezuka join them.

Rin had been going through a rough time for a few years at that point, and he’d been an old friend and teammate of the others in the swimming club, so Rei selflessly bowed out in the relay so all the friends could swim together once more.

While Haruka Nanase had realized his feelings for Rin during that time period, and they were returned, both men agreed that it wasn’t the time to be together romantically.

Now that a year had passed, it was their final year of high school. Makoto Tachibana- Haru’s best friend since childhood, Rin, and Haru all had to consider their futures.

The Iwatobi Swimming Club was invited to the Samezuka Swimming Team’s third-year send-off race. Makoto had to get Haru in order to make it to the bus station on time, but Haru had to eat first. Did Makoto expect him to swim on an empty stomach?

They had to run to make it on time and Makoto apologized to Rei and Nagisa Hazuki, their other teammate, for making them wait.

They arrived at Samezuka Academy and ran to the pool. When they arrived, they were greeted by their manager, Kou Matsuoka- Rin’s sister. All the swimmers looked exhausted surrounding the pool.

“Looks like a vicious battle.” Makoto observed.

“What kind of harrowing race is it?” Nagisa asked.

“A 100m race, 100 times.” Rin said as he walked up. “It’s a Samezuka tradition to continue until someone beats the captain.” Haru looked over and his face lit up.

“Rin.” He called.

“Hey.” Rin smiled. “Thanks for coming.” It was great he was back to his old self. His smile was relaxed and real, he didn’t carry burdens or tensions on his shoulders. Haru sighed in relief.

“Have you raced him yet, Rin-chan?” Nagisa asked.

“Not yet.” Rin admitted.

“This can’t be logically possible.” Rei said.

“Captain Mikoshiba defies logic.” Rin sighed.

Captain Mikoshiba walked up to them and challenged them to a 400m relay race. Haru was wearing his swimsuit under his clothes, as he always was, so he was ready in a flash. Apparently Makoto and Nagisa foresaw something like this too, as they brought theirs.

As usual, Haru and Rin were facing off in the last leg of the race. When it was nearly their turn to dive in, they both took their positions on the starting block.

“This is our first freestyle relay against you, isn’t it?” Rin asked.

“Yeah.” Haru said.

“Sorry, but we’ll be winning today, Haru.” Rin said.

“I don’t care about winning.” Haru reminded him. He knew saying that frustrated Rin, but it was as true as an adult as it was when he was a kid.

It was a good thing he didn’t care about winning either, since they lost the relay that time.

Afterwards, the Samezuka swim team lined up for a final speech from their Captain before he graduated. He then named Rin as his successor as captain.

While the Samezuka swim team applauded Rin and the Iwatobi swim team got excited, all Haru could focus on was how unhappy Rin looked to be the successor as swim team captain.

  
There was a public tournament they were in. Haru was walking through the lockers and right before reaching a row, he spoke up.

“Trying to ambush me here, Rin?” He stopped when he could face Rin, who was leaning against the lockers smiling.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Haru.” Rin answered. They walked together to the pool, Rin taking Haru’s hand in his. It was the only thing they did that went beyond ‘friendship’. “We’re racing in adjoining lanes again.”

“Yeah.” Haru said.

“You didn’t get to swim much over the winter, did you?” Rin asked. “I can give you a handicap if you want.”

“There’s no need.” Haru responded. “Even if I couldn’t swim, I trained.” Rin released Haru’s hand to adjust his goggles, plus they were getting close to the pool.

“You’re really fired up, huh?” Rin said in amusement. “Okay, let’s see the fruits of your labor!” Two kids ran by, each telling the other they’d win. Rin and Haru smiled fondly.

In the pool, they both stripped to their swimsuits.

“Since we can’t race in a relay today, this is a showdown between you and me.” Rin said as they both stretched.

“I don’t care about my time.” Haru reminded him.

“You’re still saying that?” Rin asked. “Even if you don’t care about winning or times, you think no one can beat you in the water, dont you? I’m gonna make that cold face of yours heat up.”

If Haru had been more outgoing, he would’ve asked Rin if that was a confession, or maybe asked him if he promised. Instead, they both got into position for their race.

It always amazed Haru how in sync they both were when swimming. They both swam like fish and urged the other to work harder. To catch up. Haru was keenly aware of Rin watching him, and Haru did a lot of watching himself when he was catching up to Rin. They both thoroughly enjoyed their races against each other. Haru could see Rin grinning every time they were side by side.

They both reached the finish at the same time and set a new tournament record.

“Haru.” Rin called to get his attention. His hand was raised, so Haru did the same. Rin high fived him and linked their fingers together. “See? You’re all fired up now.” Rin smiled.

“Not really.” Haru insisted. They dropped their hands and it was time to leave the pool. His heart was still pounding from that race, but he refused to admit it.

At the end of the day, the Samezuka team walked by the Iwatobi team.

“Rin.” Haru called out. Rin told his team to go ahead and turned to talk to Haru.

“What’s up?” Rin asked.

“I need to talk to you.” Haru responded. “Come to Iwatobi High later.”

“What for?” Rin asked, then grinned devilishly, “are we settling the score there?”

“You’ll know when you come.” Haru responded.

  
Later, Rin entered their club room. Nagisa threw a paper mache Iwatobi-chan over his head and Haru and Makoto carried him out.

“Will you guys give it a--” Rin started as they pulled the paper mache off of him. He stopped when he opened his eyes and gasped. Before him, the Iwatobi school pool was covered in cherry blossoms.

“When we were in grade school,” Haru started, “you once said you wanted to swim in a pool of cherry blossoms.” Haru couldn’t do much, but he did have a romantic side as well.

“Haru...” Rin’s eyes filled with tears. He turned away so no one could see.

“I guess I’ll let you swim in our pool just this once.” Haru said. He couldn’t look Rin in the eye, he knew his cheeks were deep red at that moment.

“Well, I do want to swim, but it’s cold.” Rin said. It started to rain then and everyone ran for cover. Rin, Haru, and Makoto ended up under a canopy together. “By the way,” Rin said, “Have you thought about what you’ll do after graduation?”

“Not really.” Haru responded.

“You can’t not think about it.” Rin insisted.

“You’re aiming to be an Olympic swimmer, right Rin?” Makoto asked.

“Yeah. Since I wasted time to get here, the upcoming nationals are my last chance.” Rin said. “If I can make it to nationals, I may get scouted. I’ll set new records there and realize my dream!” Haru watched Rin for a moment. He didn’t want Rin to leave his side again, but what could he do? “Haru, Makoto...” Rin resumed, “What do you plan to do?” Makoto said he hadn’t decided yet and Haru couldn’t look Rin in the eye. If he could, he’d follow Rin to the ends of the earth, but would he want to swim in the Olympics? Would he want to take on the world in swimming? Rin made an annoyed noise and looked away. Haru wondered what was going on in Rin’s head.

  
Their coach Goro Sasabe was reopening their old swimming club himself. The Iwatobi swimming team was roped into helping put up flyers for the grand opening.

When they were done everyone sat together to take a break and discuss what Goro could do for the main event since he didn’t have one yet. When Makoto asked him, Haru suggested a relay. Everyone got excited. Makoto asked who would their opponents be. Haru thought that would be obvious. They gave Rin a call.

Apparently Rei and Nagisa only confused him. Makoto took the phone. Nothing was definite when the call ended, but Haru knew they could count on Rin to compete against them.

Not long after, they had their relay race at Goro’s new swim club.

Rin showed up shortly after they did with his team of relay racers. After Makoto thanked Rin for coming, a tall, dark-haired, green-eyed man walked through the doors. Haru recognized him instantly. Sousuke Yamazaki. He had held a grudge since middle school, like it was Haru’s fault Rin decided to switch schools.

Haru went to get water while his teammates watched the events. He knew without turning around there was someone behind him and who it was.

“What do you want, Yamazaki?” Haru asked.

“It’s been a while, Nanase.” Sousuke replied. “I saw your relay at regionals last year.” That explained a lot. How dare Haru seduce Rin into joining their team for a relay race.

“You’re out here now?” Haru asked.

“Yeah, what you did was idiotic, though.” Sousuke replied. “You even dragged Rin into it.” This was just making him angry now.

“What is it you want to say?” Haru asked.

Sousuke laughed and then his expression got serious, almost threatening.

“I would’ve never made him do something like that.” Sousuke said darkly.

“What do you mean?” Haru asked. Rin could’ve said ‘no’. He wasn’t forced to participate in their relay. Sousuke walked Haru into the vending machine and looked down at him menacingly.

“Don’t ever get in Rin’s way again.” Sousuke growled. He held Haru’s gaze a little while longer before walking away.

It was about time for their relay to start. When it was their turn, Haru and Sousuke watched each other out of the corner of their eyes before their leg began.

Rei reached the finish first, so Haru got a head start. It was difficult to beat Sousuke, he was fast. It was also intimidating knowing he was staring at Haru like an insect that needed to be squashed. Was this a race for Rin’s heart? Haru didn’t know, but he swam as fast as he could.

He managed to beat Sousuke by miliseconds.

Even after the race before everyone left, Sousuke glared at Haru in warning. This was gonna be a long year.

  
Kou was too observant sometimes.

Haru finished a lap during practice and she asked if everything was okay.

“Can I ask you something?” Haru asked. Of course she said yes. They sat next to each other on a bench. “Why did Yamazaki switch schools?”

“Sousuke-kun’s already been scouted by a university.” Kou explained. “So he decided to spend his last year of high school back home, swimming his own way. That’s why he’s at Samezuka.” Haru remembered Sousuke warning him away from Rin. “Did something happen with Sousuke-kun?” Kou asked.

“No.” Haru said, standing up and going back to practice.

They had another problem come up. Rei was avoiding Nagisa and Nagisa was down about it. It was rare to see Nagisa not happy and bubbly. It was a bit concerning, so they called Rei to a team meeting to confront him about it. Nagisa thought Rei was planning to join the track team instead. Rei assured him he wasn’t. After everyone’s relief, however, Rei still took off... So the team followed him.

Everyone was surprised to follow Rei to Samezuka Academy.

They all crowded together to watch Rei in the pool area through a window. Rei had been planning to surprise them with his improved swimming skills. While everyone else was focused on Rei’s improving swimming ability, Haru’s heart swelled watching Rin help Rei learn other strokes besides the butterfly. Rin really was back to his old self.

_Don’t ever get in Rin’s way again._

.... What was he going to do about that?

Kou started cracking down on their eating habits and one day had made them all lunch. She said while shopping for ingredients, she ran into Rin and Sousuke. That stung Haru a bit.

Nagisa distracted him with a rice ball.

Turned out, Kou’s lunch made Makoto sick because she’d picked up protein powder and used that in all of the food.

Somehow the conversation got back to Sousuke. Rei was helping Haru stretch and Haru’s muscles tensed at the mention of him.

“Speaking of Yamazaki-san,” Rei said, “he was Rin-san’s best friend from before his transfer to Iwatobi, right?”

“Yeah.” Haru said simply.

“Then I wonder why he didn’t just swim the relay with Yamazaki-san.” Rei said.

“They swam one relay together.” Kou interjected. “But for some reason it didn’t go well and they didn’t try again.”

“That’s confusing me.” Rei said, “They swam a relay together, so why would he leave his best friend and transfer?”

“I wondered the same thing.” Nagisa announced. “So I asked Rin-chan. He said they were better off on separate teams because they knew each other too well. They were too different and argued a lot. They settled their arguments using competitions between them. So Rin-chan said they’d be better off on separate teams in relays.”

Then why were they on the same team now? Haru knew Sousuke was Rin’s best friend and he knew Sousuke wanted to swim at home for some unknown reason. He just wished Sousuke would... Go away. Haru felt like Sousuke would take Rin away from him, and that was the scariest thing about him being there.


	7. Chapter 7

It was the day of prefecturals.

The Iwatobi swim team all turned to watch Samezuka’s old captain give them a pep talk. Haru’s eye was drawn to the redhead in the front line. Rin looked up catching Haru’s eye and smiled.

Haru’s jaw clenched.

_"Don’t ever get in Rin’s way again."_

He couldn’t get that warning to stop repeating in his head. It was worse now that Sousuke was on the same team as Rin.

Makoto called to Haru to get his attention and they all walked into the prefecturals building.

Makoto and Haru had both entered into the 200m freestyle event and, the day before, Makoto asked Haru to have a real race.

Haru won. Makoto cried in happiness when he lost and told Haru he’s so fast in the water. He’d heard that from Makoto every time they swam together over the years.

Next was the 100m freestyle event.

Haru was facing off Rin again. He always felt alive going head-to-head with his childhood rival. He was especially happy it wasn’t Sousuke this time.

Haru won by a fraction of a second.

Afterwards, Rin congratulated Haru on his win and told him he got faster every time they raced. They parted promising to give their best at the relay the next day.

Standing side by side, Rin made conversation as always.

“Whoever wins, there’ll be no hard feelings.” Rin started, “But whoever wins has to win at regionals, too.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Haru responded. Rin chuckled.

“I let you win yesterday’s freestyle,” Rin continued, “but that’s not gonna happen today.”

His statement proved true. Haru’s team had a rough start and never could recover, so Samezuka won the relay at prefecturals. However, Iwatobi also made it to regionals, so it wasn’t all disappointing.

What was disappointing was that since Sousuke was there, Haru didn’t feel like he could talk to Rin at all. Instead, Haru kept his head down and went home with his team without a word to Rin.

Their advisor interrupted their practice the next day to inform the team that a scout had called for Haru.

He didn’t care. He just dove back into the pool. He didn’t want to think about graduation or the future. He just wanted to swim.

  
They were at the hotel for the regionals. The Iwatobi swim team was surprised to see Samezuka was in the same hotel as them.

In his and Makoto’s room, Haru was just thinking. Thinking too much. Overthinking and rethinking. He finally decided to get some air.

It was quite a coincidence that Sousuke was in the same elevator as Haru. They stayed silent since they also shared it with a bellboy.

When the bellboy went to leave, his cart of towels jostled and fell off the cart. Haru noticed that when Sousuke went to help, he held his shoulder and groaned in pain. The bellboy left.

“Your shoulder still hasn’t healed?” Haru asked. He’d heard about Sousuke’s shoulder from an old friend of Makoto’s. Apparently Kisumi had run into Sousuke at the hospital where his shoulder was looked at.

“What are you talking about?” Sousuke asked darkly.

“I ran into Kisumi.” Haru explained. “He told me.”

“Damn him.” Sousuke spat. “It won’t have any effect on the match.” He walked out of the elevator, “However, don’t say anything to Rin.”

The elevator doors closed before Haru could say a word.

When Haru slept that night, he felt so much pressure from everyone around him that he had a nightmare. Everyone around him was telling him to think of his future, to perform well in swimming, to go with a scout. Lights kept shining on him, he had no where to run.

He jolted awake and gasped for air. Luckily, he didn’t wake Makoto.

He couldn’t sleep any more that night.

The next morning he picked up on someone mentioning all the scouts in the auditorium. Haru looked around and spotted them. He was so distracted, he missed Makoto calling his name a few times.

For once, he wasn’t looking forward to the relay or racing Rin. He didn’t want to get anywhere near the water, but he couldn’t escape it. Their team was to race in the relay that day.

But first, it was the individual events.

Haru and Rin made their way to the pool, conversing as normal.

“Haru,” Rin started, “have you made up your mind yet?”

“Not really.” Haru responded quietly.

“What do you mean ‘not really?’” Rin inquired. “After prefecturals, a bunch of scouts started contacting me. You got calls too, right?” Haru stopped walking, staring at the floor. Rin stopped and watched him. “Fine.” Rin said and resumed walking to the pool. “We’ll talk after the race. I’m going ahead.”

Rin’s heat was before Haru’s, so Haru didn’t have to deal with Rin’s incessant questions for now. He really didn’t want to race.

If nothing else, Haru could cheer for Rin. He’d never do it aloud, but he could cheer in his heart.

Rin was beautiful when he dove into the water. He always was, but Haru rarely got to admire his form and speed since they were usually racing. Rin swam at top speed, and made it into first place. He really was amazing.

It was Haru’s heat now.

Standing on the starting block, he remembered his dream. So many eyes were on him, pushing him to swim, to win.

He got into position and dove in. He didn’t feel like swimming. It felt like the water was working against him, too. It was pulling hm back.

He stopped swimming. His feet touched the bottom of the pool and he stood. He couldn’t do this.

He looked to the ceiling, hoping for answers. The water usually gave him the answers he needed, but today it was against him. Maybe the sky would have his answers.

In the locker room, Rin showed up as expected. Rin grabbed his arms so Haru couldn’t escape.

“What do you think you were doing?” Rin growled. “Why the hell did you do that?!”

“It has nothing to do with you.” Haru responded.

“Like hell it doesn’t!” Rin spat. “This was an important match with scouts watching!”

“What do I care about that?” Haru asked. Rin looked confused. “Because scouts were watching?” Haru continued darkly, “So I can set records in front of a crowd? None of that is why I swim.”

“Then why do you swim?” Rin asked. <i>You.

“I swim for myself and my friends.” Haru responded.

“Then swim for theirs and your sake.” Rin said, getting agitated. “Don’t you understand what you do out there will impact your future?” He grabbed both of Haru’s arms firmly. “Don’t you have a dream?! Take this more seriously! I know you could--” Rin was cut off when Haru’s fist hit the lockers behind him. Haru glared at Rin, who was shocked.

“You don’t understand!” Haru yelled. “What dream? What future? It’s you who cares about that! I’m not you! I don’t have any of that!” Haru walked away without another word.

He came across his teammates who witnessed the entire exchange, so he apologized and let them know he’d swim in the relay. That was why he was there in the first place.

  
After Rin’s next race, Haru went to get some air. He sat on a bench staring at the sky, Rin’s words repeating in his head.

_“Don’t you have a dream?! Take this more seriously!”_

Then he heard Rin talking to Sousuke behind him.

“Why’d you lie to me and transfer to Samezuka?” Rin asked.

“We’re rivals. It’d be better if we’re on different teams. That’s what I thought.” Sousuke said. “So when you transferred, I said nothing and let you go.

I kept swimming in middle school. Since you were working hard on your dream in Australia, I thought I needed to work hard on mine too. Your letters stopped coming, but I had faith you’d recover.

In high school, I trained harder for my dream. I figured you’d stand with me on the international stage. So I kept training until nobody could beat me. Then I noticed something wrong with my shoulder but I ignored it until I couldn’t anymore. I couldn’t give up over a hurt shoulder, I had to achieve my dream.

Finally, my shoulder broke down in summer of my first year. Then I heard from Kou saying you were back, but I didn’t want you to see me like this. Constant physical therapy, and my teammates got better than me. I grew impatient and miserable. I finally realized my dream wouldn’t come true. I decided to give up swimming.” That shocked Haru.

“Give up...swimming?” Rin asked incredulously.

“Before I did, I wanted to see you swim again. It was last year’s regionals.” Sousuke said.

“You saw that race...” Rin said.

“Yeah, since we had the same dream, I wanted to watch you swim.” Sousuke responded. “But you were in pain. I didn’t know what happened. I believed you’d overcome any obstacle in your way. So what had happened? I wanted to call out to you but I couldn’t.

Then in the relay with Nanase and the others, you came to life and swam like you were a totally different person. You looked happy, laughing with your friends. That was when I grew hope for a new dream, to swim with you again. As kids, I couldn’t see how precious swimming with friends was. I’ll give up swimming, but first I want to be part of a team with you. With you, Rin.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?!” Rin yelled. It sounded like he’d grabbed Sousuke’s jacket. “Why did you hide it?! Why?!”

“Because I knew you’d cry.” Sousuke said.

“I’m not crying...” Rin sobbed, “Idiot.”

Haru stood and walked away. The relay was starting soon.

When they were getting ready for their relay, Haru’s teammates noticed Sousuke’s shoulder. Haru told them that Sousuke had seen their relay the previous year and learned what it was to swim with friends. He told them that Sousuke wanted to swim with Rin even if it meant sacrificing his shoulder.

“So I want us to respond to his wish with everything we’ve got.” Haru said.

Each teammate shared healthy rivalry conversation with their opponent of the other team.

Rin and Haru both pointed out their teams were ultimate.

Sousuke managed to make it to the finish, and then it was Haru versus Rin again.

This was what Haru lived for. This was what Haru swam for.

Racing Rin, being beside Rin, rivalling Rin.

Their finish was so close they had to watch the board for who won.

Iwatobi had won. They made it into nationals.

  
At school, everyone congratulated them for winning. It irked Haru that’s all they cared about. Everyone told them to win at nationals too, but Haru didn’t care about winning.

Nobody understood. There was no point in explaining it to anyone. He just walked away.

Everyday at practice, Haru stayed behind to swim longer than the others.

At least at school, he was more relaxed. He’d float around and watch the sky. He could think then.

Sousuke met Haru at the gate one day and asked Haru to go with him. They went to get some privacy.

“What do you want?” Haru asked.

“You stopped in the middle of a race at the tournament.” Sousuke said.

“That’s not your concern.” Haru responded.

“No, but it concerns Rin.” Sousuke said. “If you stop, he may too.” This again?

“You’ve come to accuse me of that before.” Haru pointed out.

“I don’t acknowledge you.” Sousuke said. “But you’re important to Rin. You understand, right?”  
“So what?” Haru asked.

“Rin’s potential comes out when he swims with you.” Sousuke observed. “He needs you.”

“Why are you always so concerned about Rin?” Haru asked. It was a stupid question. Haru already knew.

“I want him to achieve his dream.” Sousuke said. “The dream I couldn’t achieve. Your ability is incredible. So stop wasting time and take a step forward! That’s all. Later.” Sousuke walked away.

Makoto caught Haru after their conversation so they walked home together.

Makoto pointed out the upcoming festival and said everyone should get together to watch the fireworks. Haru agreed.

It was a pleasant conversation... Until they got home.

Makoto wanted to talk about plans after graduation. Again.

Haru rejected the idea of talking about it. When Makoto tried to stop him, Haru was saved by the twins-- Makoto’s younger siblings. They invited Haru to dinner but he didn’t want to deal with Makoto hounding him about his plans again, so he declined and went home.

  
At the festival, it seemed his friends had staged an intervention.

“Hey, Haru-chan,” Nagisa began, “Before we swim at nationals, we want to say something. I get the feeling we won’t be a true team until we do.”

“Haruka-senpai,” Rei spoke next, “Nagisa-kun and I have admired your swimming for a long time. Watching you swim free and unbound by anything, I wished I could swim the same way. Now, though, your swimming isn’t like you at all. We want you to swim in front of many more people all over the world. If lots of people were moved by your swimming like we were, and wqanted to swim like you, I can’t imagine anything more wonderful.”

“I just don’t get it.” Haru said quietly and walked away.

Makoto found him in the same place as the last festival, the railing overlooking the town.

“I thought you’d be here.” Makoto said. “Haru, I don’t think you can go on like this either. Until now, I thought this was fine if it was what you wanted. Despite what Rin said, I wanted to respect your wishes. But then what you said to Rin at nationals...” Haru tensed and remembered him yelling at Rin.

_"What dream? What future? It’s you who cares about that! I’m not you! I don’t have any of that!”_

“If you want to stay like this, I won’t say anything.” Makoto continued, “However, if you just can’t find a dream for yourself, I want you to find one.” Haru swallowed hard and sighed.

“You want me to find one?” Haru asked, finally turning to face Makoto. “Can you find one just by deciding you want one?” He gave Makoto a moment to answer him. “Forget it. I’m done talking about this.” Haru went to walk away, but Makoto grabbed his arm. “Let go of me!” Haru turned to Makoto and yelled.

“Listen to me!” Makoto insisted.

“Why bother? It’s all the same!” Haru yelled. “You can’t find a dream just by looking! I’m fine with things like this!”

“You’relying!” Makoto yelled back. “You want to find a dream too! You should find one and take flight to the outside world! You have the ability!”

“Even you’re talking like this?” Haru yelled. “Where I swim and who I swim for... I’m free to decide for myself! I’m saying things are fine like they are!”

“But you’re not fine!” Makoto’s yelling was getting louder and it stunned Haru. “You’re not fine! That’s why we’re all telling you this! Nagisa, Rei, and Rin... And me... It’s all because we love you. Because we care.” Makoto sobbed. “Why can’t you understand that?! We want you to find a dream and look to the future.”

“All you ever do is meddle with everyone!” Haru spat, shoving Makoto backwards. This had been going on for years and Haru was sick of it. Everything he’d kept bottled up for a decade came pouring out of his mouth. “Stop sticking your nose in everyone else’s business! A dream? A future? What about yours? Don’t decide other people’s future when you haven’t decided your own!” Haru had to stop and pant for air. “Well?” Makoto finally let Haru’s arm go.

“I have decided.” Makoto responded softly. “I’m going to a university in Tokyo.” That was like a bullet shot through Haru’s chest. He was going to be left behind by everyone. Even Makoto. “I meant to tell you sooner, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I...”

“Do whatever you want!” Haru yelled and ran off, ignoring Makoto calling for him as he ran.


	8. Chapter 8

After his big fight with Makoto, and hearing the intervention from Nagisa and Rei, Haru went to the only other person he could think of to cool off with.

Rin.

As it turned out, Rin had been sent a ticket back to Australia, and Rin suggested Haru go back with him to get away and clear his head.

It was daunting, though. Haru didn’t speak the language and had to rely on Rin to translate. Plus, Rin didn’t exactly match Haru’s pace, leaving Haru chasing after him.

“Hey, where do you plan on taking me?” Haru finally asked.

“You’ll know if you follow me.” Rin responded. “We’re getting on that bus. Come on.”

They wound up sitting on a ledge in front of a fountain in a park. Haru took a deep breath but when he looked around, Rin was nowhere to be seen.

“Rin?” Haru called. He was getting scared, Rin was his only friend and translator in Australia. He stood up, his heart pounding in his chest. “Hey...” He called louder, looking around. “Rin!”

“Haru.” He turned toward the voice and his heart slowed down. Rin held up some bottles. “I bought us some drinks. Something wrong?” He could’ve cried in relief right there.

“Don’t just run off like that.” Haru said. Rin looked a little surprised.

“Sorry.” Rin said softly. He walked back over to Haru and sat beside him. “Sorry about what I said at the tournament. I ignored your feelings and forced my own onto you.” Rin held his hand out to Haru. “I’m sorry.” Haru took his hand and thet laced their fingers. “But I want you to understand,” Rin continued, “I’ve always admired you.” Rin dropped Haru’s hand and stretched. “Ahh, I feel better.” He stood. “Ready to go?”

“Where?” Haru asked. Rin looked at him warmly and smiled.

“Don’t look so worried. I brought you here because there’s something I have to show you.” Rin said. “But that’s not until tomorrow. Today, we’re going to the beach.”

Haru followed obediently. It wasn’t like he could run off on his own. He was thoroughly enjoying Rin’s company, too.

“What do you think?” Rin asked when they arrived. “I figured seeing the ocean would help you relax.” It was touching that Rin had thought of him so much. They walked down to the beach and Rin kicked off his shoes. “Let’s go in.” He smiled at Haru.

“Don’t feel like it.” Haru said. He was sitting hugging his knees.

“What?” Rin questioned. “Who is it that’s so quick to take his clothes off?”

“Shut up...” Haru said quietly. Rin turned toward him.

“I was sure you’d decline this trip.” Rin said softly. “But you came. Did something happen?”

“No.” Haru said. “I just wanted to leave for a while.”

“You and Makoto have a fight or something?” Rin asked. Haru flinched. “Bingo, huh?” He turned back toward the ocean. “It’s just one little fight. Sousuke and I fight all the time.” He walked until the tide would hit his feet and exclaimed how cold it was when the water hit him.

“It was my frist fight.” Haru informed him.

“I heard Makoto figured out his plans for graduation.” Rin said. “He wanted to tell you as soon as possible.” He was silent for a few moments and turned to Haru smiling. “Doesn’t just looking at the ocean make you feel calm? When I first came here, looking at the ocean just relaxed me. I talked big when I left Japan, but I was really anxious.” The wind blew by.

“In a country I didn’t know, a city I didn’t know, a language I didn’t even know. I knew it all when I came, but the ocean made me feel calmer. Because I knew you were on the other side of it. I felt like it connected us.” Rin sat beside Haru on the sand and bumped his shoulder. “I never told you about my time here, huh? I had a homestay and went to school in a place I barely understood the language. I struggled with English. I went to school by day and was coached by night. The swimmers were amazing. I learned that even though I was fast in Japan, that meant nothing here. It was the first wall I’d hit. I wondered if I was weak. Was I enough to achieve my dream?”

“That’s enough.” Haru said. “I get that while I stayed in Iwatobi, you saw and experienced all kinds of things.”

  
Rin took him to his homestay parents’ house. While Haru didn’t really speak the language, he understood it pretty well. When they were having dinner, Lori- Rin’s homestay mother- had said that Rin told her that Haru had a cool attitude and eyes clear as water.

It was funny how Rin dropped the part about how he was the one who told her that and made it seem Lori had only said it as an observation.

Russel- Rin’s homestay father- mentioned to Haru about him only swimming Free.  
  
“How do they know that?” Haru asked Rin who just floundered.

“Rin looks up to you, Haru.” Lori said, “whenever he’d speak of you it was full of admiration!” She then winked at Haru.

“Hey, now...” Rin said, blushing.

“What did she say?” Haru asked. He liked to see how flustered Rin got.

“It doesn’t matter.” Rin said, turning away from him. “She just said I talked about you.”

Russel asked Rin if he had a girlfriend in Japan and Rin floundered then too.

Haru tuned out the rest of the conversation and looked around at all the pictures around the house. Rin was grinning in them with Lori and Russel.

Russel and Lori drove them to the hotel they were staying at and after Rin waved goodbye to them, he turned to Haru.

“Something wrong?” Rin asked. Yes. Haru was bummed he didn’t get to be with Rin as they grew up.

“No.” Haru said. “It’s nothing.”

“Okay, then let’s go.” Rin responded.

After signing in, Haru followed Rin to the room.

“Huh?!” Rin exclaimed when they walked inside. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Their room only had a single bed.

“It’s Australia.” Haru said. “It’s probably normal here.”

“It’s not!” Rin exclaimed. “This is your fault, you and your girly name!”

“It could be your fault then.” Haru pointed out.

“It’s yours!” Rin insisted.

“Yours!” Haru responded.

“It’s yours!” Rin insisted again. “This isn’t the time for this! I’m going to the front desk!” Rin called out as he hurried out the door. Was it really that bad to share a bed with Haru? He was a little disappointed.

The front desk couldn’t help them, so they wound up sharing a bed.

“I can’t believe this.” Rin grumbled.

“Just go to sleep, it won’t matter then.” Haru said.

“Sure, sure.” Rin said, turning out the light. After a few moments of silence, Rin spoke up again. “Hey, Haru, I told you I’ve always admired you, right? I still remember the first day I met you. I never thought I could lose to someone in a race. All frustration disappeared when I realized there was someone more amazing than me. I wanted to swim like you. So, it’s hard for me when you’re not ahead of me showing me where to go. Without you, I have nowhere to aim for.”

“I remember that tournament too.” Haru said softly. Rin turned toward Haru in bed.

“You remember the freestyle race we swam in the spring tournament?” Rin asked. “When we tied and set a new tournament record together?” Haru hummed in agreement. “I was testing you then. I wanted to see how far you could go. And when you came up behind me, I knew. You were going to enter the same world as me. Haru, during that race didn’t you feel something, too?”

They were both quiet and Haru turned to face Rin after a while. Rin’s eyes were shut, he seemed to be sleeping. Haru was only bold when he thought nobody was watching, so he let out a breath.

“I love you...” Haru whispered and closed his eyes to drift off to sleep.

  
The next day, they were waiting on a train.

“You said you couldn’t find a dream,” Rin asked, “but if you found one, what would you do?”

Haru said nothing. They got on the train and Rin sat close to Haru to point out the things they passed. Haru could’ve taken a picture of their reflections in the window. They looked good together in his opinion, but he couldn’t say that to Rin.

When they arrived at their stop, Rin was calling Haru to keep up and ran toward an Aquatic Centre.

They passed people and fountains and finally Rin stopped in front of a building.

“We’re here.” Rin said.

“Where?” Haru asked.

“A pool for international swimmers.” Rin responded. “Let’s go.” He led the way into the building with Haru following along. “Haru.” Rin called inside. He stopped to show Haru a large pool. “This is where the international swimmers swim and race. Let’s go swim.” For once, Haru didn’t have a swimsuit and he said so, Rin offered to loan him one and they were off.

Rin pointed out the national team was there to practice and challenged Haru about swimming alongside them or going to the recreational pool.

They chose to swim with the national team. Haru realized, standing on the starting block, that was where he wanted to achieve his dream. He wanted to keep swimming forever.

He felt even more elated to look to his side and see Rin there. So they swam.

Afterwards, Rin admitted his old coach wanted to know if he’d come back to Australia to keep swimming, and he wanted to and join his old coach’s team and keep swimming. Before going back, he was going to formally ask to join his team.

Haru told Rin he’d found his dream and Rin wrapped an arm around his shoulders with a big grin.

“Oh, by the way.” Rin started, and Haru caught his eye. “I love you too.” He grinned and Haru blushed furiously. “All right, let’s head out! We’re going back to Japan today!”

  
They arrived in Japan just days before the nationals. Haru wasn’t expecting Makoto to meet them there, but he smiled like always. It relieved Haru.

When they arrived at the auditorium, Rin decided to take his leave. Haru suspected so he and Makoto could talk.

Makoto and Haru met up with Nagisa and Rei. Haru gathered them all together saying he wanted to talk to them.

“Before now,” Haru began, “I never cared about times or winning. I only swam because I felt like it. My swimming would lose its meaning if I worried about those things. That’s what I thought. Rin has a dream of swimming at the world level and he’s about to dive into the world of competitive swimming to fulfill that dream. I wondered if I should really go into that world just because I want to swim. Worrying about winning or losing. I didn’t have the strong feelings toward swimming that Rin does, so I couldn’t respond to the things you said to me. I didn’t believe I could find a dream by looking. Then, Rin took me with him and showed me so many different sights. I realized the world is huge. I finally realized, I want to swim in that world. I want to keep swimming, so I’ll start caring about times and winning to achieve my dream.”

Everyone smiled and congratulated him for finding a dream he wanted to achieve. They promised to cheer him on.

After that, Makoto and Haru watched the competitive swimmers. Haru apologized to Makoto and Makoto apologized to Haru, then excitedly talked about how he wanted to teach kids how to swim. It suited Makoto. He specifically mentioned Hayato, Kisume’s little brother. Somehow, Haru expected that. Makoto found someone he cared about more than Haru. He was glad.

It was their last year swimming in the club, so everyone reminisced about the journey they went through.

Fixing the pool. Rei rejecting the club then wanting to swim because of Haru. Nagisa struggling with staying in the club because his grades suffered. Haru deciding to resume swimming and get into competitive swimming because of Rin.

Rei and Nagisa began sobbing because Makoto and Haru wouldn’t be around the following year. While Makoto calmed them down, Haru pointed out they’d always be connected and looked out over the ocean, remembering what Rin had told him before. They’d always just be beyond the ocean.

The next day was their relay race.

They didn’t win, but none of them cared. Everyone came together in a group hug, laughing and crying.

Before leaving for college, their swim team was invited to Samezuka Academy. Rin proved to be as much a romantic as Haru expected, since their indoor pool was covered in cherry blossoms. This time, they could actually swim in it. One last day of fun before Haru and Makoto went to Tokyo.

  
After years of college, Haru made it into the world of international competitive swimming. He and Rin had met up again and decided it was the time they be together.

By day, they raced each other in the pool. By night, they slept in the same bed.

Rin had insisted he do the cooking, so he didn’t wind up eating mackerel for the rest of his life. Haru did the cleaning. When one of them won a competition and the other didn’t, they still came along to the hotels for support. There were no hard feelings between them, just neverending love.

Their fights always got resolved and their lives were always filled with love and support.


End file.
